


Brave and Wild

by angellwings



Series: You're My Achilles' Heel [3]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Comedy, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-07-12 08:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 42,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7093822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angellwings/pseuds/angellwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The third story in the "You're My Achilles' Heel" series! Claire's past collides with Eliot's present for the first time. What will he learn about Claire and how will they deal with what they both discover? Should be fun to find out! Check out the other stories in the series "Ruthless Game" and "Mosaic Broken Hearts"! Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Home

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the prologue for the next story in this series! Enjoy! Thanks to anyone who's reading these stories and enjoying Claire! I appreciate it!

Her instinct when she and Shelley had finished the job was to find her way back to Eliot, but she knew she owed her family a visit. To be honest, she was eager to see them. She’d worked all of her adult life to get back home and now she was actually there. Her plane landed at the small regional airport closest to her hometown and it immediately felt familiar. Everything was so green and clean and pretty. 

She took a deep breath and inhaled the warm air that enveloped her. it was warmer than New York or Boston by nearly 20 degrees and she loved it. She could feel the humid thickness surrounding her as soon as she stepped onto the tarmac. She remembered hating the humidity as a child. It’s not easy to maintain straight hair when you have natural curl in the South. But after being away from it for so long she couldn’t help but love it. 

She was home.

She thought about calling her uncle to let him know she was coming, but since the last thing he’d heard from her was a rushed letter right after she and her mother had split she felt a phone call wasn’t enough. Instead, she rented a car and drove about twenty minutes south to a small bustling main street that never seemed to change. Local theater for community productions? _Still there._ Local Newspaper that ignores the World and uses town events for the headlines? _In the same old brick building._ Antique store owned by Old Irma? _Check._ Army  & Navy store? _Check._ Kimbrall’s discount furniture? _Check._ Harley’s General Store and Ice Cream Parlor? You guessed it. _Check._

The only thing strangely missing from her old hometown were the half dozen barbecue restaurants that existed within the same five mile stretch. She’d only counted two. Lexington was built on barbecue. They had their own damn style for crying out loud. Why would any of those restaurants close? It appeared to be recent too. The store fronts were still there. She brushed it off as something she’d worry about later when Lanier’s Building Supply suddenly came into view. The family business. Lanier’s had been keeping local contractors and carpenters supplied with goods since 1945. Her grandfather built it from nothing. Their family never struck it rich, but they never starved either.

She continued passed main street and until the buildings thinned and long stretches of empty land and rolling hills appeared. She turned down a dirt driveway and a yellow farmhouse came into view. A lovely, beautiful, warm farmhouse. Not too big, not too small with a wrap around porch and an old wooden garage. Every light in the house was on and glowed bright in the setting sun and she sighed contentedly. A bit of tension left from the job fell away as she parked and observed the house.

 _Home_. She was _home._

Her eyes began to water and she took in a deep breath to keep any tears at bay. Not now. Not yet. She grabbed her purse and her duffel out of the driver’s side and marched up the front steps. She opened the old wooden screen door that clearly needed a fresh coat of paint and then paused with her fist set to knock.

Oh god, what if they didn’t live here anymore? What if they didn’t recognize her? What if they hated her? They didn’t know she’d basically been held captive for 8 years by a mercenary. They didn’t know that she’d stayed away and out of contact before that and ever since for their own safety. As far as they knew, she’d gone away and never came back.

No, she didn’t come this far to chicken out. Damn it, she came this far to see her family again. Her _real_ family. The only family that had ever cared for her. The family she always wished she’d had more than 12 years with. She gathered up her nerves and knocked firmly on the door.

The door opened and all questions about the lack of barbecue restaurants in town were forgotten because there, in the doorway, was her Uncle Everette. Tall and lanky as ever, though I bit grayer than when she’d left. His eyes lit up and filled with tears before he pulled her in for the biggest and most enthusiastic hug she’d had in a decade and a half.

“Always knew you’d come home someday. Welcome back, Clarabelle,” he said in a hoarse emotional tone as he held her tightly. “Welcome home.”

 _Finally._ She thought as she let the tears she held back fall. She’d worked for years with the dream of returning home in the back of her mind. It wasn’t a dream any more. It was very real.


	2. Chapter 1: Small Town Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Leverage Crew starts a new case at Eliot's urging.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter One takes place 4 weeks after the prologue. Eliot will be playing catch up with what happened during Claire's 4 weeks in her home town so don't worry, you'll hear all about it! Happy reading!  
> angellwings

 

“I gotta be honest, Eliot, I’m not sure this one’s for us,” Nate said as soon as the potential client was out the door. “I know you have a weakness for food—“

“Who else are they gonna turn to?” Eliot asked him. “Technically, Henderson hasn’t done anything illegal so they can’t go to the police. Besides in a tiny town like that they don’t have the resources to really investigate. And in the South, barbecue is more than food, Nate. It’s a tradition and a freakin’ artform. Particularly for the Carolinas. They got their own style of barbecue. It’s named after them, dammit. And that family just had their legacy stolen from them. Each restaurant has a different recipe and a different philosophy on cooking the meat. This Henderson guy swiped it out from under them and then intimidated them all the way outta town. Away from their home. You’re telling me that of all the jobs we’ve done, _this one_ is not for us? No, no way. If we don’t help them, no one will.”

Nate let out a long suffering sigh and then grinned at Eliot in amusement. “I never really had a say in this, did I?”

“Well, that all depended on whether or not you gave me the right answer,” Eliot told him.

“And the right answer is to take the job, obviously,” Nate said with a smrik.

“Obviously,” Eliot agreed.

“Alright, I guess we’re going to North Carolina. Since you agreed to this, you get to tell Hardison,” Nate said as he stood from the table and headed upstairs.

Eliot smirked after him. “It would be my genuine pleasure.”

Hardison was going to _hate_ this.

* * *

 

“Hell no. No. I’m not going, Eliot. We just got back from that case in Hell’s Rump, Nevada and yeah it was hot but at least that was a dry heat! Now you want me to suffer in humidity? No. _No._ ”

“It was Pahrump, not—you know what, it’s too late, man. Nate already said we’re going,” Eliot said with a smirk.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Hardison asked him knowingly. “Look man, I know you haven’t heard from your girl in four weeks but that’s no reason to take this stuff out on me.”

Eliot rolled his eyes and shook his head as he mumbled under his breath, “I’ve heard from her. Once.”

Parker giggled at them. “Please, he’d do this whether or not he’d heard from Claire and you know it. Besides, what do you have to complain about?” Parker asked him. “You spend most of every job in air conditioning or a running van. If anyone’s going to be in the heat it’s gonna be Eliot or myself and I’m fine with this job. Where there’s barbecue there’s usually French fries. Right, Eliot?”

Eliot gave her a lopsided grin and nodded.

“I’ll go anywhere there’s decent French fries,” Parker said gleefully.

“Good, that’s settled then,” Eliot told them. “I’ll call the Speedmans and let them know we’re on our way.”

“How’d these people get our number anyway?” Hardison asked. “Last I heard we don’t exactly advertise.”

“He said somebody passing through gave them our card. He didn’t catch a name,” Eliot told Hardison with a wary expression.

“Want me to prepare for an ambush?” Hardison asked. “I can pack some extra toys that might come in handy.”

“Probably a good idea, yeah,” Eliot agreed.

“Good as done,” Hardison said as he started to gather his things.

“Oh good! This means I can bring my new rig!” Parker exclaimed with a mischievous grin. “This’ll be the perfect job to test it!”

“Test it?” Hardison asked in alarm. “You haven’t tested it yet? And you’re gonna use it?”

“How else would I test a rig?” She asked him with a furrowed brow.

* * *

 

Two days later, they rode into town and Eliot was more than ready to get out of that damn van. Road trips with Parker and Hardison left him needing a moment alone. Luckily, Nate took Eliot with him to meet the client instead of Sophie. That gave him a break and he could trust Sophie to calm the other two down. One was hopped up on gummy frogs and the other on chocolate. On the trip back he’d have to remember to never let them go on a snack run without him.

The town had a quaint main street and Eliot found himself feeling at home, surprisingly. It reminded him of where he grew up. He and Nate walked to the storefront that had once been “Speedy’s Barbecue” and knocked on the glass front door. The man Eliot and Nate had met with briefly at McRory’s immediately came to the door and let them in.

“Come on in,” the older man said with a bright smile and sweeping gesture of his arm. The inside was just as hot as the outside and Eliot pulled back his hair instinctually.

The older balding man shook Nate’s hand then Eliot’s hand before he pulled his baseball cap off his head to reveal a stack of napkins inside the cap. He took one napkin out and wiped it across his sweating bald head and then replaced the stack of napkins in the hat. “Sorry about the air,” he told them. “Just got the power turned back on today. I called the company when I heard you boys were comin’ but it took ‘em a bit longer than I expected. It’ll cool down in an hour or two. We’ve got window units in the back that should speed it up a bit. Come on back here to the office and we’ll sit a spell.” He put the cap back on his head as he talked.

He led them back to the office where the window units were running on high and a folding table was set up with a computer and messy stacks of papers. There was a rocking chair and a couple of hand made wooden dining table chairs with thin cushions on the seats. Mr. Speedman motioned for Eliot and Nate to take the dining chairs and then pointed to the cheap red cooler on the floor. “Can I offer you boys a beer?”

Eliot accepted the bottle with a thankful nod and Nate politely passed. The old man took one out for himself, knocked the bottle cap against the counter to open it and then settled in his rocking chair.

“Thank you for coming back here so fast, Mr. Speedman, we know this must of have been hard for you,” Nate told him once they were all seated.

“Well, I do still own the building. I’m mostly worried about Henderson sending the sheriff after me for opening back up,” he said with a worried sigh.

“We won’t let that happen,” Eliot promised him before he took a sip of his beer. “We’re gonna run this place ourselves and we ain’t gonna run it as Speedy’s. It’s well within the law.”

“You don’t know Henderson,” Mr. Speedman said with a chuckle.

“No, but we’ve known plenty of people like him,” Nate said with a sympathetic smile. “We’re prepared, Mr. Speedman. You can trust us.”

“It’s a fool idea to begin with but my son is convinced it’s the only option we’ve got,” Mr. Speedman said with a shake of his head. “Y’can’t make things any worse, I s’pose. Might be good timing too. No one’s going to want to cause a scene during the Festival. It’s our biggest tourist event of the year. You got a lot of work ahead of you though to get this place ready to go by then.”

“We’ve got a good team. We’ll have it ready,” Eliot assured him. 

“My son’ll help y’out if you need it, too,” Mr. Speedman offered. “He knows the business as well as me. Maybe better. I’ll leave you his number. He lives one town over now. He’ll be here in a blink if you ask.”

“Good, we may need him,” Nate said with a nod.

Mr. Speedman turned toward Eliot. “You told me you know good food, son. You ever slow cooked pork in a pit before?”

“A few times. Yes, sir,” Eliot said with a nod.

“Just a few, huh?” Speedman asked with a teasing grin. “Yeah, you’d better call m’boy. You’ll need him. This ain’t something you can pick up overnight.”

Eliot saw it for the good natured jab it was and chuckled. “Yes, sir. Trust me, I do not want to be the one to disgrace good ol’ Carolina Barbecue.”

“Especially since you’re from a little further west, huh?” Speedman asked knowingly. He was guessing based on Eliot’s accent. “We do things a little differently out this way.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“We’ll make it convincing, Mr. Speedman,” Nate said with a smirk.

The old man took one last sip of his beer and then stood slowly. He stretched a bit before he threw away the bottle. “Alright, well, I’ll leave you boys to it and get out of your way.” He turned with a wave and headed out the back screened door. “See you at the Festival. So will everyone else in the tri-state area.”

Eliot chuckled and waved as he watched him go. “I like this place already.”

“You would,” Nate said with a laugh. “Call the son. I need you focused on your job this time and not the food.”

“I could do it,” Eliot said with a huff.

“I have no doubt, but call the son. Just in case.”

* * *

 

Eliot called the son and he and Nate were set to meet him at the general store down the street. They passed the town courthouse on the way there. It wasn’t functioning but it had been turned into a museum on the town’s history. The construction of a stage across from the courthouse caught his attention. The Barbecue Festival, that the town was famous for, wasn’t for another week. Why were they already setting up? In fact there were stages every two blocks down Main Street and they were all under construction.

“It’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” Nate asked him.

Eliot nodded his agreement. The last stage they passed was completely set. The sounds system was out as well.

“Testing, testing.”

There was a man standing on stage with peppered gray hair and a guitar hanging around him by the strap.

There was a laugh off to right of the stage that struck Eliot as particularly familiar. His chest tightened slightly and he ignored Nate as he tried to urge him on to the General Store. Nate gave up when a woman stepped on stage. A very particular red head, in fact.

“You know better than to mike check like that,” she said in to the microphone with a laugh.

“Alright then Clarabelle, show this old man how it’s done, why don’t you?” the man asked as he backed away from his mike stand.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nate said with a shake of his head. “Of all the town’s you could have picked,” he chuckled before he continued. “You picked _Claire’s_.”

The voice he knew so well filled the streets with an a cappella performance of an old hymn, “Let the Circle Be Unbroken”, and he couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe really. He was so surprised to see her. You’d think Hardison would’ve mentioned it if he recognized the town.

Nate motioned toward the stage. “You go. I’ll meet Mr. Speedman’s son.”

Eliot must have nodded because Nate walked away with a knowing smirk. Eliot crossed the street and tried to stay just out of her view while she sang. He hadn’t seen her in a while and she hadn’t invited him here. He didn’t know how she would react. She opened her eyes as the song ended, the man on the stage with her started to clap, and that’s when her eyes found his. They widened and she blinked for several moments before she finally beamed at him and shook her head in amazement. He smiled brightly in return which she must have taken as a sign that she could acknowledge him. This job didn’t require him to be so far undercover that he couldn’t recognize Claire. In fact, it might help.

She hopped off the front of the stage and ran right to him.

“I knew you’d come,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. He gave her a questioning look as she pulled back from the embrace. Her eyes widened as if she was remembering something and then said, “Oh god, you should know my Uncle kind of thinks that we’re—“

“Well, if it isn’t Roy Chapel,” the man on the stage said as he set his guitar on the stand and hopped off the stage himself. “Clarabelle made it sound like I wouldn’t get a chance to meet you. Now I finally get to play that intimidating uncle card I missed out on while she was dating those European boys.”

“Married,” she finished with a sigh. “Shauffner called them.” The man joined them and Claire cleared her throat with an apologetic glance. “Uncle Everette, this is Roy—“

“The husband,” Everette said with a chuckle as he shook Eliot’s hand. “Yes, I know. Paul told me all about it.”

“Paul?” Eliot asked.

“Shauffner,” Claire told him with a small smile. “He sent Everette a copy of the photo we took, remember?”

Eliot resisted the urge to sigh and shake his head and smiled pleasantly instead. “Did he? Well, that was nice of him.”

Claire nodded wordlessly and then turned to her uncle. “Uncle Ev, do you mind if I…” her sentence trailed off but she motioned to Eliot and Everette shook his head.

“By all means, take your time,” Everette said. “I’m gonna go speak with sound guys, make sure they got all the levels they needed.”

Once he was out of earshot she gave Eliot another apologetic look. “I am so sorry. I didn’t expect you to just show up. I thought—“

“But you did expect me?” He asked with a furrowed brow.

“I gave the Speedmans your card,” she told him. “When I got here there were two of the old barbecue restaurants left open and then when Henderson forced Speedy’s to close I knew somebody had to do something. I can’t operate in my own home town, so…”

“Why didn’t you call me?” He asked.

“I can’t be any where near this,” she told him with a shake of her head. “I couldn’t be the one to contact you. Besides, you need a community pillar like Speedman to bring you in on this. No one here would trust you if I’d been the one to invite you.”

“This is your town too, isn’t it?” He asked.

“It was my town when I was twelve,” she answered honestly. “These people haven’t seen me in years. I’ve spent that last three weeks trying to gain back some footing. I wasn’t gaining it fast enough. That’s when I gave Kip your card.”

“Kip? Who’s Kip?”

“Mr. Speedman’s son,” she told him. She breezed past the fact very fast but he could tell there was more to Kip than being Mr. Speedman’s son.

“So, if you can’t be anywhere near this then how is this going to work with your family thinking we’re married?“

“And the town.”

“What?” Eliot asked.

“Yeah, apparently I’ve gained an aunt since I left town. She’s nosy as hell. She put a marriage announcement in the town paper,” Claire said with a sigh.

Eliot gave her a flat look and sighed.

“I know,” Claire told him. She understood that look perfectly. “I’m sorry. I had no idea Shauffner would send that photo to them. I swear.”

“Claire, how the hell is this going to work?” Eliot asked her. He was only partly frustrated by the situation. He was mostly amused that a cover story they used for a vacation ended up reaching her hometown several states away. 

She sighed and shook her head. “We’ll figure it out.” She paused then and gave him a flirtatious smile. “But first…”

She placed a hand on either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. He smirked against her lips and then wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her deeply and held her as close as he could. He hadn’t kissed her in ages and in the midst of her apologies and explanations he’d nearly forgotten that fact. Trust Claire to bring it front and center, though. One kiss became two and then three and before he knew it they were essentially making out in the middle of Main Street. He forced himself to pull away from her and pressed his forehead against hers.

“You should have done that before you told me _any_ news,” he said with a grin.

She laughed and then nodded in agreement. “Probably.”


	3. Chapter 2: Alone Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After weeks apart Claire and Eliot finally get a little time alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it's about time these two got to have a little time to themselves again, don't you?  
> Happy reading!  
> angellwings
> 
> PS - these daily updates will probably not be a regular thing but right now I'm on a roll so I'm not gonna question it ;)

****

Claire went with Eliot to the General Store to meet Nate and Kip. Kip was tall, broad shouldered, and scruffy. His face brightened a little too much for Eliot’s liking when he spotted Claire. Claire hugged him briefly and then it was back to business.

“The reason I came back here was to help dad with the restaurant,” Kip said honestly. “So, I’ll do whatever y’all need me to do. Besides dad, nobody knows that restaurant better than me.” Kip then turned to Eliot. “So, you’re Roy, huh?”

“Roy?” Nate asked.

Eliot gave him a stern almost pleading look before Nate nodded his head in agreement.

“Right, your middle name. I forgot,” Nate said with a smirk as he caught on to the act.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Eliot told him.

“Well, you, uh, you got a good one there, you know,” Kip said as he motioned to Claire.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes at him with a chuckle. “Kip, stop. Seriously.”

“Trust me, sometimes a guy needs to be reminded of these things,” Kip told her. “It’s easy to forget how good you have it sometimes.”

“Trust _me_ ,” Eliot said with a lop-sided grin. “I’m perfectly aware of what I’ve got, hoss. I don’t need remindin’.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Kip said blank expression.

This no longer felt friendly. This felt like Kip was trying to tell Eliot he had competition.

“Well,” Kip said with a smile. “I’d best get back to my day job,” he told them. “Good to meet you Nate…Roy. Give me a call and let me know when you need me at the restaurant. I’ll be there.”

Eliot turned to Claire with a curious glance. “Something you wanna tell me, darlin’?”

She sighed. “He’s an old friend, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Eliot asked with an amused grin. “Were we in the same room just now?”

She rolled her eyes at him and then turned back to Nate. “So, I don’t know if Hardison’s established aliases yet but Eliot’s is going to have to be—“

“Roy Chapel, I’m guessing?” Nate asked.

“It’s the alias I used on our vacation,” Eliot told him. “Word got back to her family and they now know me as Roy Chapel.”

“Alright, I’ll let him know. He’s going to hate it,” Nate told them.

Claire smirked and nodded. “Good. Also, my family thinks we’re married.”

“So, now he has to fake marriage records too?” Nate asked. “Did you do this on purpose? To mess with him?”

“No,” she said with a chuckle. “But it’s certainly a perk.”

“I’m assuming your family will expect him to stay with you?” Nate asked.

“Oh!” Claire said in surprise. “Yes, probably. I didn’t even think of that.” She brought a nail up to her mouth and nibbled on it nervously.

“Alright, I need to get back to Hardison and get him started on his part of this job,” Nate told them both. “Eliot, we’ll call you when we need you.” Nate paused and turned back around to face them. “I believe you’ll need these.” He pulled out his wallet and then reached in and dug out two simple gold bands. He placed them in Eliot’s hand with a smirk.

“You just carry those around with you?” Claire asked.

“I have several plans rolling around in my head at all times. At least ten of them include a fake marriage,” Nate said with a grin.

“Good to know,” she said with a nod. The look on her face clearly expressed her bewilderment at having more than 10 plans at one time. Claire was too impulsive to have more than one plan, let alone 10.

Eliot waved goodbye to Nate and then noticed Claire was still nervously chewing on her thumbnail as they left the store and headed back to her uncle.

“Is that a problem?” Eliot asked in concern. “That they would expect me to stay with you?”

“No, not a problem, really,” she said nervously. “I just…no one’s ever seen this part of my life before,” she admitted. “You’re gonna be the first.”

Eliot took the hand she was nibbling on and pulled it away from her face. He held it in his as they walked down the sidewalk toward the stage. “It’s not gonna change anything, Lanier. There’s nothing for you to worry about.” They stopped walking and Eliot reached for Claire’s left hand. “If we’re gonna do this, let’s do it right.”

She laughed and placed her left hand in his. He slipped the band on her left ring finger and then she took his left hand and did the same. They started walking again and Claire watched the sun reflect off the band for a few minutes before she spoke again. “You know I never really dreamed of a wedding like other girls. Every man I knew aside from my uncle and my…grandfather disappointed me somehow. And then with my mother being who she was—well, I always doubted whether or not love actually existed. Plus, my mother made marriage look like a business arrangement more than anything else.”

“My life has always been heading in the opposite direction of commitment and marriage. I thought about it when I was younger but after everything that’s happened and everything I’ve done…I can’t really imagine how that would work,” Eliot admitted to her.

“Now you get to find out. For the next week at least,” Claire said with a playful wink. “C’mon, I parked the pick up around the corner. I wanna get back before my cousins and my aunt come home. If we get there after them they'll swarm you as soon as we walk in the door.”

They walked around the block to where she parked the truck and Eliot stopped to take in the view. He recognized the truck immediately. It was a white and light blue 1965 Ford F-100. It had probably been in Claire’s family for years. He imagined her grandfather probably drove it all the time. While he stood back to look at the truck, Claire climbed up in the driver seat in her flannel, cut off shorts, and cowboy boots. It was like a piece of one of his fantasy’s coming to life. Good truck, strong willed woman, and a beautiful summer day. The only thing that would make this better is if they were driving off to a secluded cabin in woods some place to find a lake or a river. He wondered if Claire had ever gone fishing or if she’d like it. He’d have to ask her before the crew left North Carolina. Maybe they could sneak off for a couple of hours. 

“You coming, Spencer?” Claire asked as she leaned out the driver’s side window and smirked at him. It was as if she knew exactly what he’d been thinking about. Hell, she might have. “You wanna drive?” She asked.

“Hell no,” Eliot said with a smirk. “I’d like to have the image of you driving this truck in my head for a long time to come. It’s pretty nice view to have.”

She rolled her eyes at him playfully. “Good ol’ boys and their trucks. I will never understand it.”

* * *

 

They drove a little ways out of town to a cozy yellow farmhouse. Claire led him quickly up the stairs on the porch, through the living room, and up the stairs to the bedroom at the end of the hall. She shut the door and locked it behind her. The whole time she’d kept her eyes peeled for any other people in the house. They never ran across anyone.

“What was that about?” Eliot asked in amusement.

“My aunt and my cousins should be home any minute. I wanted to get you in here to talk to you before they corner you,” Claire said with a chuckle before she pulled him toward the bed and sat them both down.

The pale pink bedspread suddenly made him realize where he was. Claire’s childhood bedroom. The posters on the wall dated it well beyond any kid that would currently be living in the house. He pointed to one in particular and flashed her a teasing grin. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Shut up, okay? Achy Breaky Heart was a cultural phenomenon,” she said with a playfully defensive expression.

“Wow,” he said with a chuckle. “Was it the mullet? I hear girls loved the mullet.”

“Business in the front, party in the back. It really was a versatile look,” Claire said with a laugh.

“And that kid?” Eliot asked as he pointed to another poster.

“Jonathan Taylor Thomas,” Claire told him proudly. “I thought he was so adorable. Never missed an episode of Home Improvement—well until mom and I left, that is.”

“So, this is where Claire Lanier spent her early years?” Eliot asked as he leaned back on the bed and glanced around. “It looks like it hasn’t been touched.”

“It hasn’t,” she told him. Suddenly she looked very far away. His brow furrowed and he reached for her hand.

“Hey, you okay?”

“My grandparents wouldn’t let anyone clean out my room,” she told him. “They kept it just as I left it. Everette said no one was allowed inside except to clean it. Gram didn’t want anyone ‘invading my privacy’. They were so determined that Everette didn’t have the heart to touch it…even after they died.”

He had a feeling that was coming. He hadn’t seen them or heard her mention her grandparents, but still he sucked in a breath as the words left her lips. He knew she’d been looking forward to seeing them again and now she never would.

“Last year, Eliot. Gram died last year and Grandpa died a few months before that,” She told him. He heard her sniffle and then saw her use her free hand to wipe her eyes. “I can’t believe all that time I was gone I never thought that they might…How stupid was I? I mean I didn’t think they were going to live forever, did I?”

He squeezed her hand and then pulled her into his side. “Not stupid. Hopeful. There’s a difference.”

“Everything is different now. It’s been tough. Everette is married and he has kids. Turns out that’s the one good thing that came from me being taken away from here. He didn’t have to look after me any more and so he had more time to focus on himself and start a family of his own. He has two kids. And a _wife_. When I was a kid he never even had serious girlfriends. None that I remember anyway. I had all these ideas that I’d come back and things would be exactly as I left them. I should have known better.”

Eliot shoved a few stuffed animals out of the way and then laid both himself and Claire back on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she quickly snuggled into his side. There really wasn’t anything he could say to make this better and he had a feeling she didn’t really want him to make it better. She just wanted him to be there for her. He could certainly do that. She rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his middle.

“I missed so much. I finally got what I wanted after all these years and I still feel…I feel—“

“Incomplete?” Eliot asked knowingly.

“Yes. God, yes. I thought I’d thought of all the things my mother and Moreau had taken from me, but I was wrong. I just found one more. Time. Time that I could have spent with my grandparents or getting to know my little cousins. I missed practically everything. I missed Everette’s wedding! I can never get any of those things back. They’re just… _gone_.”

“No, you can’t get those back,” he said thoughtfully. “But you’re here now. You’ve got time with them _now_. You don’t have to miss anything else. Just keep telling yourself that. It won’t fix it but it might at least offer some comfort.” He rubbed her arm soothingly as they both looked up at her bedroom ceiling.

There was a pause before Eliot cleared his throat and playfully poked her waist. “There’s a Tim McGraw poster on your ceiling.”

“Man looked good in a cowboy hat, Eliot. I couldn’t help myself,” she told him with a watery laugh.

“How did a 12 year old you get that up there?” He asked in disbelief.

“Very carefully and with a very tall ladder,” she answered.

“So, what were all those stages being set up for in town?” Eliot asked after a prolonged moment of comfortable silence. “The Festival isn’t for another week.”

“It’s a local tradition. We have music and pageants and town exclusive events the week leading up to the Festival,” she told him. “Lanier’s Building Supply sponsers the stage you saw us on today. We’ve got a rotating slate of local musicians playing from 4-9 all week long. There’s a bonfire every night. It’s good small town fun.”

“Pageants? Like a Beauty Pageant?”

“Oh yes. Miss Barbecue Festival and Little Miss Barbecue Festival. Every year. In fact, you are looking at a Little Miss Barbecue Festival five time winner,” she said with a grin.

“I’m sorry, what?” He asked with a disbelieving look.

She said nothing but pointed to her white and gold vanity in the corner that had five tiny tiaras placed on strategic display.

“Oh wow,” he said with a grin. “Never would have guessed.”

“Yeah, the pageants weren’t my idea,” she said with a sigh. “I preferred the talent competition but I had trouble winning every year so Mama thought I should shift my focus.” She pointed to a shelf not far from the vanity that had three huge trophies displayed. “First place three times. Only three times. I competed in it every year.”

“Starting at what age?” He asked her with a quirked brow.

“They wouldn’t let me enter until I was 5,” she told him. “Didn’t get my first win till I was 8. Mama thought it was a huge waste of time.”

“Where’s all the other trophies?” He asked. “You know from the years you placed but didn’t win?”

“Mama made me throw them out. To her not winning was a failure and I was not allowed to keep any reminders of failure,” she said after a long pause. She seemed hesitant to talk about it. He remembered his little league tournament trophies he’d gotten as a kid. Only two of those were first place, but he’d been proud of each and every one of them. He would have been furious if his parents had made him throw any of his trophies away. He couldn’t imagine that a parent would do that to a child. She must have sensed his shock because she continued to explain. “Mama was convinced I was going to be a star. She hadn’t gotten out of this town so she wanted to make sure I did…and took her with me, of course. I was her ticket out. Or so she thought. She pushed me pretty hard with all of my lessons and competitions. It was just her way.” She turned to look at him for a long moment and then swallowed thickly. “I’ve never told anyone that before.”

“About the pageants or the trophies?” Eliot asked with a furrowed brow.

“Both,” she answered simply.

“You mama sounds like a piece of work,” he told her honestly.

She chuckled darkly and nodded. “You have no idea.”

“I just realized something,” he said with a smirk. “You missed high school, didn’t you?”

“Yes?” She asked in confusion.

“So, you never had a chance to try and sneak a boy up to your room?” He asked as he met her eyes with a mischievous grin across his lips.

“Not until now, no,” She answered with a chuckle.

“Then I guess we’d better make sure you get the full experience, huh?” Eliot asked as he rolled onto his side and pulled her body flush against his.

She laughed and her face flushed. “Have I mentioned how much I missed you, yet? Because I have.” She kicked off her boots and then sat up so he could move his arm from her shoulders. She repositioned herself in the pillows so that her shoulders and head were supported and then motioned him forward with a coy curl of her finger. “Come on, Cowboy. I’m waiting.”

He followed her lead and kicked off his own boots before joining her. She expected him to go straight for the lips so when he started trailing kisses down her jaw she sucked in a startled breath. He settled over her and unbuttoned the top of her flannel shirt to give him better access to her neck. She arched against him as he went back to kissing her. She put a hand under his chin and impatiently pulled his lips to hers. He adjusted to meet her lips easier and she responded by wrapping her legs around his waist. The kisses grew deeper and their hands roamed over each other. Now that they were back together, they were both acutely aware of how long they’d been apart. Eliot unbuttoned Claire’s cut off shorts and slid the zipper on the fly down. She pried her lips from his long enough to let him slide them off her body. He tossed them aside before slipping off his shirt and then quickly began to kiss her again. She was addictive. He knew that and they’d been apart before. Before she came back to take care of him they’d been apart for five weeks. This time they’d only been apart for four. So, why did this time feel different? Why had it left them both with this hunger to be close?

“You were killing me in those shorts and boots, for the record,” Eliot told her in between kisses. “You should wear them more often.”

She laughed against his lips and shook her head. “I think that would prove to be a little too much of a distraction for you, Spencer.”

“Not possible,” Eliot said with a smirk. “You can never have too much of _that_ kind of distraction. Besides you really shouldn't hide legs like these.” He moved his lips to her neck again and began to trail kisses downward. His hand gently caressed the length of her leg, from her thigh to her toes. She sighed contentedly and let her head fall back against the pillows.

Eliot stopped kissing her when he realized she was laughing hysterically. He looked up at her with a furrowed brow as she brought a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but you were kissing me and then I looked up and saw _him_.” She said as she pointed to the Tim McGraw poster on her bedroom ceiling. “Now I feel like we’re being watched.” He shook his head at her as she continued to giggle.

He stood up on the bed, careful not to step on Claire, and found he could reach the poster. “Sorry, brother. You gotta go,” he told the poster as he peeled back the tape on the corners with a chuckle. “This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done to get laid.”

Claire laughed louder and harder than he’d ever heard her and he had to admit, it was probably the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. Laughter was one of the more obvious signs she was healing, however slowly. He peeled back the last piece of tape and then shoved the poster in her trashcan by the bedroom door.

“Now that that’s done,” she said with a grin and soft laugh. “You are about to get _so lucky_.”

That’s where she was wrong. He already was.


	4. Chapter Three: Meet the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliot meets Claire's family.

“This has got to be the one place I never thought I’d have sex,” Claire said with a laugh as she kissed Eliot once more and then slid out of bed.

“Hey, where you going?” He asked as he tried to reach for her.

“The little monsters should be home from day camp any minute, along with my nosy aunt. We should probably be dressed when that happens, Spencer,” Claire told him with a grin as she gathered her clothes and headed toward her bathroom. “Though I’d bet we have time for a shower,” she said with a wink and heated gaze.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Eliot said as he got out of bed and followed her into the bathroom.

By the time they’d finished their lengthy shower Claire heard small excited footfalls running up the stairs. She dressed hurriedly and then shoved Eliot and is clothes back into the bathroom just as loud banging sounded against her bedroom door.

“Clarabelle! We’re home!” A little voice shouted through the door.

He heard Claire chuckle and then open the door with a loud creak as he continued to dress. These must be the cousins she warned him about.

“You mean you were gone?” She asked sarcastically. “I had no idea.”

“Silly! We’ve been at camp every day this week, remember?”

“Oh, so that’s where you go every morning. I thought you were just invisible for a few hours every day.”

“You’re so weird,” another little voice said with a laugh.

“You’re one to talk, Pippy Long Stocking. What happened to your pig tails?”

“Ms. Kara hair sprayed them! Cool, right?”

“Sure, we’ll go with that,” Claire answered with a chuckle.

Eliot pulled his shirt over his head and finished dressing. He slowly opened the bathroom door and heard two gasps.

“There’s a boy in your room!” The girl with the pig tails yelled as she pointed at Eliot. Her pigtails were sticking straight up from her head, like she’d been hanging upside down and they’d gotten stuck that way.

The younger boy furrowed his brow and stared at Eliot suspiciously. “Does daddy know he’s here?”

“Yes,” Claire answered with a smirk. “We saw him in town earlier today actually. Munchkins, this is E—“ she paused and sighed as she remembered their cover. “Roy. This is Roy.”

“Oh! Your husband!” the girl said as she poked her little brother’s shoulder. “He’s the husband!”

“That’d be me,” Eliot said as he stood next to Claire and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Roy, this is Rosie—“

“I’m seven!” Rosie shouted excited as she held her hand out to him for a shake.

Eliot smirked at her and then shook her hand gently. “Good to meet you. Nice hair.”

She giggled and hopped excitedly at the compliment. “Thanks! Mama said it’s gonna be a pain to wash out, but I like them!”

Claire laughed and then picked up the smaller boy. “And this is Carson.” She held him against her hip and then playfully pulled his ball cap down over his eyes. He straightened it and then stuck his tongue out at her.

“And how old are you?” Eliot asked.

The boy quietly held out four fingers to him. “Daddy said you’re a baseball player but I’ve never heard of you.”

“Here we go,” Claire said with a laugh.

“Minor leagues, kid. You wouldn’t have heard of me,” Eliot told him.

“Do you have your own baseball card?”

“No, but I have a television commercial.”

“Really?” Rosie asked with wide eyes.

“I’ve never seen you on TV,” Carson said with narrowed eyes.

“It only aired in Japan,” Eliot said with a lop sided grin. This kid would not be easily fooled.

“Then that doesn’t count,” he said a scoff.

“Oh-kay,” Claire said with a smirk as she set Carson back down on the floor. “Why don’t you guys go play, huh? We’ll catch up with you later.”

Carson immediately ran off but Rosie stayed behind. “Clarabelle?”

“Yes, ma’am?” Claire asked as she knelt down to meet Rosie’s eyes.

This was a whole new side of Claire for Eliot. He’d never once seen her with kids or heard her talk about them. He’d never even imagined it.

“We made friendship bracelets at camp today,” Rosie said shyly as she dug into the pocket of her shorts.

“You did?” Claire asked with a grin. “I bet that was fun.”

“It was,” she said as she held out a hand toward Claire. In her hand was a simple braided yarn bracelet that matched the one of the little girl’s own wrist. “I made you one. If—if you want it.”

Claire stared at the bracelet for a long moment with a hand pressed to her lips before she nodded and took the bracelet from the Rosie’s hand. “I definitely want it. It’s beautiful.”

“And we match! See?” Rosie asked excitedly.

“I do see,” she said with a warm smile. “I will never take it off.”

“You promise?” Rosie asked as she hopped again.

Claire nodded and clutched the bracelet tightly. “Promise. Now go on. Go play. I need to talk to your mama.”

“Okay! She’s in the kitchen starting dinner!” Rosie told her as she turned and skipped out of the room.

Claire stood next to him and said nothing for a long moment. She simply stared at the bracelet with a look of shock and amazement.

“You okay?” Eliot asked her in concern.

“You know, I always thought I wouldn’t get along well with kids,” she told him before she held the yarn bracelet out to him. “Would you mind?” she asked as she motioned to her wrist.

Eliot nodded, took the bracelet from her, and then tied it around her wrist.

“I gotta say,” she said with watery eyes and a serene smile. “I’m glad to be wrong.”

“The rugrats got under your skin, didn’t they?” Eliot asked her knowingly.

“More than I ever thought possible,” she admitted as she ran a hand across the bracelet. “They don’t care. They don’t care what I’ve done or who I became. They just…like me. They just met me a couple of weeks ago and yet—“

“They already love you,” Eliot finished for her. “I could see it the minute I walked into this room.”

“They’re funny kids,” she told him with a chuckle. “Carson is suspicious of everything. You can’t get anything past him and Rosie lives in this world of rainbows and unicorns. I swear nothing gets that girl down. I really just can’t believe I’m even here and those kids make that even harder to believe. I don’t deserve _this_ ,” Claire said as she held up her wrist with the friendship bracelet. “Everything I’ve done, I just don’t.”

Eliot took her hand in his and ran his thumb across the bracelet. “Everyone deserves a family, Claire. Whether it’s one they’re given or one they make or a combination of the two doesn’t matter. They’re your family. This is how family is _supposed_ to be. It’s okay to enjoy it.”

She draped her arms around his neck and then pulled him to close to her. “You always say exactly what I need to hear. How do you do that?”

“I just know you, is all,” Eliot told her with a chuckle. They heard footsteps on the hardwood and Eliot started to move away but Claire held him tighter and smirked at him as the footsteps reached the door.

“Hey, Claire, I know you were with Everette earlier today, have you heard from him since—Oh, well hello,” A tall blonde woman said with a slow smirk. “You have a boy in your room, young lady.”

“It’s okay, Ada,” Claire said with a grin before she held up her left hand to show her the gold band. “We made sure to get married _first_.”

“Well, how very old fashioned of you,” Ada said with a chuckle. “I’d never have taken you for such a traditionalist, Niece.”

“Well, I thought I’d give it a try, Aunt,” Claire said with smirk before she motioned between the woman and Eliot. “Ada this is Roy, Roy this is my aunt, Ada.”

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Eliot said with a polite smile.

“Oh god, please don’t ma’am me,” Ada said with a wince as she shook his hand. “I realize you’re probably one of those polite southern gentlemen that have become so rare lately, but the ma’am isn’t necessary. Ada will be fine. Has Everette seen him yet?” Ada asked Claire.

“Briefly,” Claire told her. “He was pretty busy with the stage set up.”

“Ah, so he’s probably still there, then,” Ada said with a sigh. “It’s almost time for Jimmy’s set so you know they’re probably carried away by those guitars of theirs.”

“Roy and I can go check on him,” Claire offered. “We’ve got to head back to town anyway. We’ll send him home.”

“Yes, please do. I’d like him to be home for dinner at least one night this week,” Ada said with a chuckle and a sigh.

As they passed Ada while walking through Claire’s bedroom doorway, Eliot heard Ada whisper, “Good work, lady.”

Claire laughed and rolled her eyes, but didn’t respond.

“Well, she likes you,” Claire told him as they stepped out onto the wrap around porch. “Or at least the way you look in those jeans.”

“Thanks,” Eliot said with a quirked brow. “I think.”

“You should probably check in with your crew right?” Claire asked him. “I thought we’d ride into town and I could pick up Uncle Ev while you check in with Nate and company.”

“Not a bad idea, actually,” Eliot told her. “They said they’d call if they needed me but I’d feel a lot better if I checked in. Just in case. Probably need to at least pick up an ear bud from Hardison. Coms should be up and running by now.”

“Alright then,” Claire said before she tossed the keys to the truck to Eliot. “You drive. I have a feeling you’re dying to.”

“That’s a 1965 Ford F-100.”

“I know,” Claire told him with a light laugh.

“It’s in pristine condition,” he told her.

“All the more reason I know you’ll take good care of her,” Claire said with a grin. “You wanna drive her or not?”

“Hell yeah I want to drive her,” Eliot said as he held the passenger side door open for her.

“That’s what I thought,” Claire said as she stepped up into the truck. “Just drive down the drive way, take a right, and keep going till you hit Main Street.”

The drive into town was beautiful, he had to admit. It was green with rolling hills and old wooden barns. The Lanier family land was surrounded by farms on all sides. Just before they reached Main Street Eliot noticed the Lanier Building Supply warehouse. It looked old. The signage was faded, but the parking lot was packed. Every contractor in the area appeared to shop there. Claire must have noticed him staring.

“Family business,” she told him. “Uncle Everette took over when my grandfather died. Been around since 1945. It’s lumber and tools, anything a carpenter or contractor might need along with a few other odds and ends."

He was suddenly reminded of his own family’s hardware store and decided to focus on the road. But he didn’t shift focus long enough to keep Claire from noticing.

“You ever thought about going home, Eliot?” She asked carefully. “I know you said you and your father left things in a bad place but…well, if you don’t at least try then nothing will ever change.”

“It’s better this way, anyway,” he told her briskly. “They’re safer if I stay away.”

She nodded and decided to drop the subject. She was never one to pry or push and she’d always had a knack for knowing when to back off. Especially when it came to Eliot. “If you ever decide you want to try…I’ll be there if you need me, Spencer. You know that, right?”

He turned to her, met her eyes with a serious expression, and nodded. “I do.”

“Good,” she said with a small smile. “To get to the Holiday Inn you’ll need to take a right here,” she told him as she pointed at the stoplight up ahead.

“How did you know where we were staying?” He asked her.

She laughed before she answered. “It’s the only hotel in town, Eliot. Where else would you stay?”

It had been a long time since he’d been in a town this small. He should’ve known. “Of course,” he said with a laugh. “What was I thinking?”

 


	5. Chapter Four: Meet the Crew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the job begins...

 

He parked the truck next to Lucille and then called Hardison to find out what room they were in. He led Claire inside to the room and knocked rhythmically on the door. The door opened a second later and Eliot pulled Claire inside.

“Well, if it isn’t the Newlyweds,” Hardison said with a grin. “Mazel tov.”

“Does this mean you and Alice are in laws?” Parker asked Eliot before she pointed to Claire. “Since she’s Alice’s sister and all?”

“Parker,” Claire said with a chuckle. “You’re Alice.”

“So does that mean _me_ and Eliot are in laws?” Parker asked with an eager smirk.

“No, Parker, we’re not—Claire and I ain’t really married.”

“Oh,” Parker said with a pout. “That’s disappointing.”

“And even if we were you and I would not be in laws!”

“Why not?” Parker asked with a furrowed brow.

“Because you and Claire aren’t really related,” Eliot told her with a sigh.

“But if I’m Alice then isn’t she Catherine?” Parker asked. “That would make us sisters.”

Claire smiled at her and nodded before she elbowed Eliot gently. “Yeah, Eliot. That would make us sisters.”

He shook his head and then rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever you want, Parker.” Eliot tried his best to ignore Claire and Parker as they sat next to each other and began whispering. What in the world did they have to whisper about? “Nate,” Eliot called. “What’s the plan, man? Claire and I have to find her uncle and get back.”

“Sophie and I are going to find our way in with Henderson,” Nate told him. “To help steer him in the right direction. You and Claire are the new owners of Speedy’s.”

“Wait,” Hardison said with a furrowed brow. “We’re bringing her in on this?”

“We have to, Hardison. The whole town thinks she and Eliot are married,” Sophie reminded him.

“How did you miss that, by the way?” Nate asked Hardison pointedly.

“My file says she’s from Welcome. You said we were headed to Lexington. Two totally different towns, bruh,” Hardison said with a shrug. “I didn’t think to look for her Podunk town on the way here.”

Claire rolled her eyes at him. “Welcome is ten minutes from here. It’s a Baptist church, a grocery store, a racing museum, and farmland.”

“How the hell am I supposed to know that?” Hardison asked her. “Besides, from what I understand you _wanted_ us here.”

“You, maybe, could have looked at a map, and yes, I did want y’all here. I still do. This is my family’s town and Henderson will single handedly destroy it. Someone has to do something about it before his joke of a barbecue restaurant is the only one left,” Claire told them adamantly. “The Barbecue Festival keeps this town afloat year after year. We’ve built a tradition here, an artform, and he’s trying to monopolize it. So, tell me what you guys need me to do and I’ll do it. I’m more than happy to help.”

“Should we worry about her being involved in a con in her hometown?” Eliot asked in concern.

“In this case it actually adds some validity to the story,” Sophie answered. “You’re a young married couple that’s been traveling individually for years and decided to put down roots. What better place to do that than one of your hometowns where one of you have family?”

“Family?” Claire asked with a furrowed brow. “We’re involving my family in this?”

“Not completely,” Nate assured her. “They’re on the outer fringes of the plan. Just circumstantial.”

Claire scoffed. “That makes me feel so much better,” she said sarcastically.

“We won’t let them get hurt,” Eliot assured her. “Trust me.”

She sighed and nodded with a half-hearted smile. She trusted Eliot, but the jury was still out on his crew.

“Kip is going to be doing the actual cooking while you and Eliot are the faces of the business. Parker and Hardison are going to insert themselves in the Barbecue Festival staff. We need all our ears to the ground on this one,” Nate told them.

“First step?” Eliot asked.

“You and Claire and Kip focus on building up Speedy’s again. We’ll take care of the rest,” Nate told him.

Eliot nodded. Hardison stood from the desk and then brought over a small box. He placed one earbud in Eliot’s hand and another in Claire’s. “GPS trackable, completely unhackable, and on our own exclusive frequency.”

“Even with all the wireless microphones in town?” Eliot asked him skeptically.

“There will be no interference. I guarantee it,” Hardison told him in a flat tone.

“You guarantee it?” Claire asked with a smirk. “Well then who am I to question the great Hardison?” She asked dryly.

“Damn straight,” he said seriously. “Age of the geek, baby.”

“Everyone will be in town tonight, including Henderson,” Claire told Nate as she ignored Hardison. “If you and Sophie need an in you’d better show up. Henderson’s restaurant is sponsoring the Grand Stand this year. If you hang out there you’re sure to run into him.”

Nate nodded. “We’ll be there.”

“Good,” Claire said with a nod. “Let’s take him down and keep him down, huh? He’s a creep.”

“That’s the plan,” Nate told her with a smile and a nod. “You two should go. Keep the ear buds in, we’ll contact you if we need you.”

“Be careful,” Eliot said as he gave Nate and Sophie pointed looks. “This town’s small, I can run if you need back up.”

Nate nodded but said nothing in return as Claire and Eliot left the room.

“Hey,” Eliot said as they reached Claire’s truck. She turned to face him, but he could tell she was distracted. “They’re not circumstantial.”

“What?” She asked as she met his eyes.

“Your family isn’t circumstantial. They matter,” he told her. “I’m not going to let anything happen to them.”

Claire reached up and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. She ran her thumb across his cheek and smiled warmly at him. “I know. Thank you.” She placed a slow kiss on his lips before she pulled away and leaned back against the truck. “Is Nate always that… _blunt_?”

Eliot chuckled and nodded. “He lacks a bit of sensitivity according to Sophie. He can also be a bit morbid when he wants to be.”

“Somehow I am not surprised,” Claire said with a smirk.

“You get used to it. He really doesn’t mean anything by it,” Eliot said before he shrugged and continued. “Most of the time.”

She laughed lightly and then turned and opened the passenger side door. “This is some family you’ve got here, Eliot.”

“They’re _something_ , alright,” he told her with a shake of his head. “Not sure _what_ exactly. But something.”

“C’mon, Cowboy,” she said as she climbed into the truck. “Let’s go pick up my uncle. We’re gonna be late for dinner. Ada’s real set on all of us being there. This week is gonna be crazy so it might be the only family dinner we have until after the Festival.”

He walked around and got in the driver’s side. “Look at you and your family dinner. Never seen this side of you before, darlin’.”

“Never really had a family while I’ve known you,” she said with a soft smile as he started the truck.

“It looks good on you,” Eliot told her with a small smile.

“You think?” She asked with a nervous grin.

He nodded. “I do. Is your uncle still at the stage?”

“Probably,” she answered. “When I was a kid he spent the entire week at the stage. We barely saw him. I doubt that’s changed. This is the only week of the year he really gets to play in front of audiences.”

“So, your love of music is a family trait then?” He asked her with a knowing grin.

“Everette says my great grandmother brought the music into the family. She was a member of the Tuttle Family. They were a traveling bluegrass band and pretty well known around here,” Claire told him with a shrug. “She passed it along to my grandfather and then he just kept it going. Although, grandpa told me once that his mother was horrified by rock and roll. So she probably didn’t like most of the music grandpa played. He liked rock and grandma loved country. She introduced me to Patsy and Dolly.”

“Patsy…”

“Cline. Patsy Cline,” Claire explained with a grin.

“Right, got it,” Eliot said with a nod. “Did your, uh, mama like music?”

She tensed almost immediately and nodded hesitantly. “She liked the attention it brought her.”

“You don’t talk about her much, you know,” Eliot told her.

“I know. Partially for the same reason you don't talk about yours," she told him with a soft smile before her expression turned dark and serious. "But also because the less you know the better. Trust me. The longer I can keep the life I had with her separate from this one the safer we'll all be.”

“She really that bad?” Eliot asked worriedly. “I mean she came from the same family you did. She raised you, didn’t she?”

Claire laughed. But it sounded very hollow to Eliot’s ears. “Everette and my grandparents raised me until I was 12 years old. My mother was there, sure. She shuttled me to beauty pageants and talent competitions and model searches, but she did very little else until she took me away from this place. Everything she did, she did for herself. Not for me. Do you know any totally selfish parents that turned out to be _good_ parents?”

“Can’t say I do,” Eliot told her with a sympathetic glance.

“Then there’s your answer.”

“Remember that offer you made to be there for me if I needed it?” Eliot asked her as they reached the block the stage was on. Claire turned to look at him and nodded with a soft smile. “That offer goes both ways.”

“You know, Spencer,” Claire told him with a chuckle. “You’re the best fake husband a girl could ask for.” She reached over and slipped her hand into his as he parked the truck. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, Lanier,” Eliot told her with a wink.


	6. Chapter Five: Tradition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where the job actually begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I've had it written for a while but I haven't had any time to proofread, edit, or post for a while. Real life took priority for a bit. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and commenting!   
> Enjoy!

 

As they approached the small stage with the Lanier Building Supply sign on it they could see Claire’s uncle on the stage with another man. Everette had his acoustic guitar and was playing his heart out to a song Eliot didn’t recognize.

Everette spotted them and paused his playing to wave. The small crowd that had gathered turn to look at them and they both smiled awkwardly.

“Oh man,” the other man on stage said as he too spotted her. “Is that little Claire Lanier? You ain’t so little anymore, are ya girl?”

She laughed and shook her head before she yelled back to him. “No, Jimmy, I ain’t.”

“Get yourself on up here and let’s find out if you still got those golden pipes a’yours,” Jimmy said as he motioned for her to come on stage.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Claire said with a shake of her head.

“Come on, sugar,” the older man asked as he adjusted his cowboy hat. “We’ll play ya some Patsy. I know how you feel about Patsy.”

She sighed in resignation and then nodded. “Fine. But I have a specific Patsy song.”

“Alright! Folks, let the gal through,” Jimmy said with a victorious smile.

Eliot chuckled as he watched her make her way forward. She’d been away for a while but it seemed some people in town still treated her as one of their own.

“Welcome to the stage our own Claire Lanier, Five time Little Miss Barbecue Festival winner,” Everette announced into his microphone with a wink at Claire. “Who’s probably been sent here by my wife to bring me home for dinner.”

Claire laughed and nodded. “One song and then you and me gotta go,” she told him.

“What’s your request, lady?” Jimmy asked.

“Love Me Honey Do,” she told him with a confident smile.

“Ah, that one for you new husband back there?” Jimmy teased as he pointed to Eliot.

Claire blushed slightly and it was the first time since he’d been in town that she seemed bashful about their fake marriage so he could only assume the shyness was put on for the sake of the act.

“Oh yes,” Jimmy told her. “We know all about Mr. Roy Chapel. Well, darlin’, if marrying him brought you home again then I’m glad to hear it. ‘Bout time. Welcome to town, Mr. Chapel. Hope you can get Speedy’s up and running again. We miss it.”

Everette’s brow furrowed and he gave Claire a questioning look which Jimmy noticed. “Yeah, Ev, your niece and her husband are the new owners of Speedy’s just down the street. Heard it from Kip himself. Looks like the prodigal daughter is home to stay, my old friend.”

Guilt flashed briefly across Claire’s face. It was so quick he nearly missed it. But he knew he’d seen it. She replaced it with a proud smile and wink at Eliot. Again, for show.

“Well, damn, looks like I’m always the last to know,” Everette said with a laugh. “Roy,” Everette said as he found him in the crowd. “You brought Clarabelle back to us and you’ve given her a reason to stay. Thank you, man. Welcome to town.”

The crowd applauded and he felt Claire’s guilt too. He wasn’t as good as hiding it as Claire was but he hoped no one suspected. He knew as well as Claire did that they weren’t staying. It wasn’t safe for either of them to put down roots in one place or another. His apartment in Boston was the longest he’d ever rented a place. It was sheer luck he hadn’t been forced to abandon it yet.

“Alright, alright,” Claire said with a laugh. “Enough of the mushy stuff. Let’s play this song before Ada hunts us down for being late to dinner.”

The minute Claire’s voice filled the air Eliot forgot his guilt in favor of watching her doing what she loved. She’d been right when she told him music was for her what food was to him. It was her art and her therapy. She was damn good at it too.

_“My loves is deeper than the world’s deepest sea,_

_My love is stronger than the mightiest tree._

_My love is real,_

_My love is true._

_Darlin’ you know that’s the love I have for you._

_Well love me, love me, honey do._

_You know I’ll always be true._

_Love me, honey, squeeze me tight,_

_Hug me, honey, with all o’your might._

_Love me, love me, honey do.”_

He used the rest of the song as an opportunity to observe the crowd and survey Main Street. That’s where most of the action would go down and it would be best if he knew the layout well enough to navigate it. Speedy’s was only one block from this stage, which was perfect. Henderson’s was three blocks from Speedy’s. That was a little less convenient in terms of reaching Nate and Sophie if they needed him, but not impossible. The Grand Stand stage was across from Henderson’s place and so also three blocks away. The hotel was a bit of drive so Hardison would need to park Lucille in the alley behind Speedy’s. Eliot needed to remember to find out when the restaurant’s garbage day would be. Hardison couldn’t park back there that day. He’d block the garbage truck from reaching the dumpster.

While he was making notes in his head for the case he spotted somebody suspicious in the back of the crowd. They were watching Claire with a suspicious glare. He couldn’t quite make out who the man was. His view of him was obstructed by a tree. He moved and Eliot glared in return. Henderson. He’d heard the announcement. He’d just found out who his competition was.

And so it begins, Eliot thought as Claire finished the song and the crowd erupted into applause. She waved thankfully and then grabbed her uncle and pulled him off stage with the words “we had a deal” echoing in the microphone.

Eliot wrapped an arm around her as she reached him and they walked with Everette toward her truck. He leaned toward her ear and spoke softly, “Henderson heard the announcement.”

“So the job starts now, huh?” She asked him in a whisper.

He nodded. “Right now. I’m sorry.”

“Why?” She asked him with a furrowed brow.

“I saw your face when Jimmy announced that we would be staying.”

She sighed and gave the back of Everette’s head a guilty look. “I don’t like misleading my uncle. It’s going to kill him now when the day comes for me to leave. He thinks I am—no, _we_ are—making a home here.”

“I know,” Eliot said with a nod and an understanding glance. “I’m sorry.”

She sighed and shrugged. “It is what it is. So what do you think Henderson’s first move will be?”

“Gathering intel followed by a veiled threat. He’ll see if he can scare us out of town without using any real force first,” Eliot told her in a whisper. “That’s what I’d do.”

“So,” Everette said suddenly as he turned to face them. “What are you two whispering about? Did Jimmy out you unexpectedly?”

“Well,” Claire said thoughtfully. “Yes. We were hoping to talk to Kip about it a bit more first, you know? Make sure we were really up for it.”

“Plus,” Eliot added. “We haven’t really sorted out the living situation yet.”

“Oh, well that’s easy,” Everette said with a smirk. “You can stay in the cottage on the back half of our property. It’s furnished and everything. We typically rent it out but our last renters decided to move to the city about a month ago. Now it’s vacant. Perfect timing for you two lovebirds, huh?”

“Yes, perfect,” Claire said with a bright smile.

“I’ll take you out to look at it after dinner. It’s got a nice backyard. Even has a little firepit. It’s perfect for a newly wedded couple just starting out.”

“We’d appreciate that,” Eliot said with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Your family now, Roy, you’d better get used to it,” Everette said as they reached the truck. “Now let’s get home before my wife blows a gasket.”

* * *

 

They reached the house and Everette hurried inside to make peace with his wife but Claire stopped short of the front porch.

“Why is it that I can handle betraying some of the most dangerous men in the world but lying to my family makes me feel like shit?” she asked him with a shake of her head. “I mean going along with the married thing was fine. Little white lie, it won’t hurt anything. But this…this is cruel. I’ve been gone for years and this job is making him think I plan to stay. You and I both know that there’s no way I could do that. No matter how much I may wish I could,” Claire said as she met his eyes with a furrowed brow. “There are a handful of people in the world who care about me, Spencer, and I don’t want to hurt them.”

“I’m sorry,” he said simply. He couldn’t say anything else to comfort her because he couldn’t change the plan. They had to work with the situation they’d been stuck with. They had no other option but to include her family.

“These people you work with…”

“Yeah?” Eliot asked when her sentence trailed off.

“They’re good?” She asked him nervously.

He nodded. “The best. Don’t tell them I said that.”

She smiled weakly at that and then lightly tapped her ear, “I’m pretty sure they heard you.”

He winced and then nodded. He’d forgotten about their ear buds. “I’m never going to hear the end of that.”

“Probably not,” she said with a chuckle before she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. After that her demeanor changed. He had a feeling he just witnessed her putting her “game face” on. He’d never seen that before. Usually she switched it on and off without batting an eye. “We’re staying in that cottage,” Claire told him as she started up the porch steps. “I know exactly where it is and it’s the perfect place for out of sight meetings with your crew. There’s a dirt driveway along the back of the property that they can sneak in and out of. Besides, the more of this job we keep separate from _them,_ ” she told him as she motioned to her family’s home. “The happier I’ll be.”

“You hear that, Nate?” Eliot asked aloud.

_“Loud and clear. Everyone here seems to know where we’re staying so an alternate spot to meet is a welcome addition. We’ll meet there later tonight. For an update.”_

“Hey, lovebirds!” Ada yelled through the screen door. “Dinner’s on the table. Hurry before it gets cold.”

“On our way, Ada,” Claire called with a warm smile before she turned her serious expression back to Eliot. There it was. The Claire he remembered from his time with Moreau was present and accounted for. “We’re going back to town after dinner. If we’re gonna sell this we need to be seen mingling in town and we definitely need to be seen pulling late night’s at Speedy’s.”

He smirked and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

She chuckled and glared at him playfully. “Damn right, you better ‘ma’am’ me.”

He laughed and then placed a quick kiss to her temple. “Your town, your family, your call, Lanier.”

“Good, I’ll call Kip,” She said as she walked away from him and into the house.

Eliot sighed and rolled his eyes. “Great.”

“Stop it,” Claire said as she grabbed his hand and led him toward the dining room.

“What?”

“The sarcasm. Stop it. Kip’s a nice guy. I think you’d like him, actually.”

“I think he likes _you_ , Claire,” Eliot told her. “As long as he likes you, he ain’t gonna like me.”

“He doesn’t like me,” Claire said with a dismissive wave of her hand as they reached the small wallpapered dining room.

“Who doesn’t?” Ada asked.

“Roy thinks Kip has a thing for me,” Claire said with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, sweetie,” Ada said with a laugh. “Roy is totally right.”

“Et tu, matertera?” Claire asked with offended shock.

“Matertera?” Eliot asked Claire with a furrowed brow.

“It’s Latin for maternal aunt,” Claire said with a shrug.

“Where did you pick up Latin?” Everette asked as he brought in the salad and sat down at the table.

“Dated a guy who studied it,” She explained with a shrug. “Apparently rich kids study it at boarding schools.”

“Dated or conned?” Eliot asked as he leaned toward her to whisper in her ear.

She smirked and winked at him. “Both.”


	7. Chapter Six: Could Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The job continues for Claire and Eliot...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this has taken so long guys! I've had a crazy past few months! But I am still working on this story!  
> Happy reading!  
> angellwings

 

After dinner, Everette led them out to the back acreage on the farm. They followed in Claire’s truck and she called Kip while they were driving. They were meeting him in an hour at the restaurant. Everette and Ada had updated the little cottage since Claire had seen it last. It was a tiny one bedroom, one and a half bath cottage but the fixtures and appliances were all new and gone was the thin ratty carpet she remembered. Now there were hardwood floors. It was fully furnished.

Her eyes fell on the wood cherry finished desk in the corner and then quickly looked away.

Eliot noticed the way she averted her eyes from the desk and gave her a curious look.

Everette cleared his throat and gave her a small sympathetic smile. “Most of this furniture is from Ada’s townhouse but a few pieces were your mother’s.”

“I noticed,” Claire told him with a small smile.

Now Eliot understood.

Everette looked down at his watch and then clapped once with an excited smile. “Alright, time to get this show on the road. My set is in half an hour. I should head back to town. You two are coming tonight?”

Claire nodded. “Wouldn’t miss it. Plus we have a meeting with Kip at Speedy’s tonight.”

“Good, we all want that place open again,” Everette said with a nod before his smile fell and he gave them both a concerned look. “But be careful,” he warned them. “This town’s different than it was when you were a kid. Even if it doesn’t look it. We got a wolf in sheep’s clothing wandering around town.”

“Henderson?” Eliot asked knowingly.

“Man’s bought up near half the town through intimidation. He thinks he can turn the Festival into his own corporate event. If you ask me he’s wanting to steal the revenue from our local office of tourism and keep it for himself. He doesn’t give a shit about this town,” Everette said angrily. “Without that tourism money this place would dry up pretty quick. We lost the textile and furniture industry, tobacco’s been dead for years. The Festival is the only thing keeping people in town. Without that they’d all move somewhere with actual jobs. Our people have long commutes as it is but they stay for the pride of it. They stay because they can brag about our little town. If Henderson takes that then the town dries up. So, in my opinion, Speedy’s is the first defiant step toward running that fool out of town. I’m proud of both of you. But Henderson doesn’t play fair. So be careful.”

Claire hugged her uncle and then kissed his cheek with a warm smile. “We’ll be careful and we won’t let Henderson intimidate us.”

Eliot nodded and grinned at Claire and Everette. “Damn right.”

“Good,” Everette told them. “Well, I’d better get going but I’ll see you two in town.”

They both waved as Everette left and then Claire turned a knowing look on Eliot. “Intimidation. You were right. That’s gonna be his first move.”

“Henderson’s a low life creep, not a mercenary. He’s gonna do what all low life creeps would do. Especially when they underestimate their victims,” Eliot explained. “Come on, let’s go meet Kip. We need Henderson to see us working. The sooner we make Speedy’s a viable threat the sooner this guy makes a mistake.”

Claire got her bag out of the truck and dropped it in the bedroom before they sped off toward town. They went directly to the restaurant and found Kip inside waiting on them. He’d already prepared a couple of plates for them by the time they got there.

“Two half portion coarse chopped barbecue plates. Since I’m sure you’ve already had dinner. This is just enough for a taste,” he said with a friendly smile as he placed their plates on the counter. “We can’t technically serve this in the restaurant but seeing as how we’re not open yet…either of you want a beer?”

Eliot’s brow furrowed. “We can’t serve beer?”

“Dry County,” Claire told him. “You gotta drive half an hour north to cross the county line before you can sell alcohol.”

“Dry—dry county?” Eliot asked with a glare.

Claire smirked at his outrage and patted his arm. “Relax, cowboy. You can still drink it. We just can’t sell it.”

“How does that even exist in modern America?” Eliot asked both Kip and Claire.

“Because this corner of modern America is still a bit old fashioned,” Kip said with a laugh. “The only person who manages to sell Alcohol around here is Henderson,” Kip continued. “Although, even that is once a year at the festival and only because he has a special wine from his vineyard for the Festival.”

“This guy has a vineyard too?” Eliot asked in disbelief.

Claire nodded. “He’s put a shopping center not far from it and your hotel is actually five minutes from it. He claims it brings in tourists.”

Kip laughed and shook his head. “I’ve never seen one tourist in town to visit his damn vineyard.”

“I bet those grapes grow surprisingly well out here though,” Eliot said thoughtfully. “The soil out here would be perfect for it.”

“There used to be a couple of smaller vineyards in the area till he opened up,” Kip agreed. “Weathervane Vineyard out past the Lanier land managed to stay open as a special events venue but they gave up on the grapes. They say they just couldn’t afford production, but we think Henderson had something to do with it.”

“We as in the town?” Eliot asked as Kip nodded. “If y’all hate him so much why do you let him stick around?”

“He hasn’t done anything that we can prove is illegal,” Kip said. “He’s well within the law. Until we have proof we’re stuck with him. Anyway, go ahead. Eat before it gets cold. The sauce is my dad’s recipe. It has a bit more vinegar in it than most other places use.” He placed a small cup of just the sauce in front of Claire. “Since I know you prefer to dip instead of pour.”

Claire laughed and then eagerly dipped a forkful of barbecue in the sauce. “You do pay attention, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” he told her with a chuckle.

“Damn,” Eliot said after a couple of bites. “This is good, man.”

“I know,” Kip said with a proud smile. “The pork is tender and well flavored. The sauce is tangy but not overwhelming. It’s great barbecue. It’s flavors and a process that’s been perfected by my family for generations. And Henderson stole it.”

“No,” Claire told him. “He stole the business. Not the recipe. That’s why I had your dad contact these guys,” she said as she motioned to Eliot. “In order to pull this off, though, we’ll need your help. You know the process for the meat and all the recipes. We need this place to be a viable threat to Henderson for this plan to work.”

“I’m in,” Kip agreed. “Someone has to stop him. So whatever you need, I’m there.”

“Alright then,” Eliot said with a small smile. So far, this meeting with Kip was going better than the first. “Welcome to the team.”

“Thanks,” Kip said with a nod. “Listen, Hoss, earlier today…earlier today I was an ass,” Kip admitted as he turned to Eliot. “I crossed a line. I just wanted you to know I wasn’t trying to make a move on Claire or a threat. I’m a little protective of Lanier, have been since we were kids, and I’m just coming off of a bad marriage myself so—well—I wanted to make sure you weren’t like me. That you weren’t taking her for granted. From what I see between the two of you, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. No one stands a chance of coming between this,” Kip said as he pointed between Eliot and Claire.

“You know we’re not really married, right?” Eliot asked him with a smirk.

He nodded. “Claire told me, but there’s no mistake that you two have something exceptional. Are we good?”

Eliot nodded and reached across the counter to shake his hand. “We’re good.”

“Glad we got that settled,” Claire said with a smile. “Now, let’s get to work. We need a name. We can’t reopen as Speedy’s.”

“The meat’s pit cooked, right?” Eliot asked. “Why not just name it something obvious.”

“Obvious? You mean like…The Barbecue Pit?” Kip asked.

Claire’s eyebrows shot up and she beamed at the two men. “I love it! Not to mention it mirror’s Henderson’s restaurant.”

“What’s that?” Eliot asked.

“The Smokehouse,” Kip answered with a grimace. “The food is substandard, but the atmosphere is top dollar. He doesn’t do curbside ordering either. His place is too good for that.”

Claire turned on her stool to look at the rest of the restaurant. “We should repaint. Maybe see if Hardison can track down some old historical town photos?” Claire said as she gave Eliot a questioning glance. “We could make this place represent this town. Henderson’s is so cold and it feels very detached from the community.”

“What about the old booths?” Kip asked.

“Keep ‘em,” Eliot said as he walked over to one and examined it. “They’re old but the wood is still strong and they’re well taken care of. They give the place character.” Eliot turned to Kip. “You keep working on the food and we’ll take care of everything else. We should be able to get the painting and pictures and signage done in a day or two at most. We could probably reopen by Wednesday.”

“We’d have to have inspectors come through first,” Kip said with a furrowed brow.

Eliot smirked at him. “We’ll take care of that too and the permits. Don’t worry.”

“If you say so,” Kip said with a shrug. “Ain’t much else we can do tonight. I’m gonna clean up here. You guys should probably go down the block and mingle with everyone else in town. Word of mouth is the best way to advertise around here.”

“Already had it on the schedule,” Claire told him with a grateful smile. She leaned across the counter and placed a quick kiss to Kip’s cheek. “Thank you, buddy. I appreciate you.”

“Anything for you, Lanier,” He said with a roll of his eyes. “This is how you always get me in trouble, you know that? Kiss to the cheek and a sincere thank you. It does me in every time.”

She chuckled at him and nodded. “I’m well aware. Why do you think I’ve always done that? I figured out early on what your weakness was.”

He laughed. “A pretty smile and a little affection and I’m done for. Story of my life. You two had better go. You’ll miss the end of Everette’s set.”

“Right, he would never forgive me,” She said as she reached out and grabbed Eliot’s hand. “Let’s go, Spencer,” she said as she glanced at the clock on the wall. “He should still have about two to three songs left.”

He waved goodbye to Kip as Claire dragged him out the door and down the street. Eliot felt eyes on them, the closer they came to the stage. He just couldn't figure out where they were. Claire leaned toward him with a smile and spoke with a deceptively bright face.

“We’ve got a tail,” she said with a very convincing grin. “I’ve seen him at Henderson’s vineyard. Security. He’s been following us since we left Speedy’s.”

“How did you see him and I didn’t?” Eliot asked in a whisper as he too faked a smile.

“My job is to blend into the crowd, Spencer. I notice the people who don’t,” she told him. “Plus, this is my town. I know the hiding spots better than you.”

He quirked a brow at her. “The hiding spots?”

She nodded and then released his hand for a moment to loop her arm through his instead. “The little shallow alley next to Speedy’s is where I had my first actual kiss,” she told him with a smirk. “Or two. With the cutest boy in all of 8th grade.”

“I thought you left town when you were 11?” Eliot asked in confusion.

“I did. I didn’t say _I_ was in 8th grade. Just that _he_ was,” Claire told him with a wink.

Eliot let out a genuine laugh and then shook his head at her. “You’ve been a heartbreaker that long, huh?”

“No,” she said as her expression grew serious. “No, I wasn’t a heartbreaker until I’d had my own heartbroken a few times. Not until I thought love and romance always had an ulterior motive. After that it was just a matter of keeping mine from being broken first.” She cleared her throat and sniffled as she tried to reel in her unexpected emotions. “So,” she said as she changed the subject. “What do we do about our tail?”

“Let him follow us,” Eliot advised as he took in her small admission. “We’ll let Henderson think he has the element of surprise.”

“Speaking of Henderson,” Claire said as they reached the stage. She flipped her hair of her shoulder and glanced discretely to her left. Eliot took a quick glance over her shoulder and then brought his eyes back to Claire.

“He’s watching us,” Eliot told her. “He’s definitely worried.”

“Good,” Claire told him with a grin. “Do you see your crew?”

His eyes quickly scanned through the crowd and landed on Nate and Sophie.

“My do they ever look like city folk,” Claire said with a chuckle as Eliot pointed them out to her.

_“That was the plan.”_

“Nate?” Eliot asked over the coms. “What’s the play?”

_“We’ve worked up a business proposal for Mr. Henderson,” Sophie could be heard saying._

_“One he won’t be able to resist.”_

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Claire said with a furrowed brow. “The only business proposition you could offer him is— _no_. Nate, I know we don’t really know each other but if you do this and it backfires—“

 _“It won’t_.”

“If you offer him control of the town and he doesn’t fall into whatever trap we’re setting up for him—“

 _“He’ll fall_.”

“How the hell can you be sure sure of that?” Claire asked as she clicked her tongue in irritation.

_“Ego always ruins a man like Henderson.”_

“What?” Eliot asked. “What’s he offering?”

“Land,” Claire told him. “The only thing left that Henderson doesn’t have is majority of the land around here. If this goes pear shaped then he’ll be able to run anyone and everyone out of town. Make this town whatever he thinks it should be.” She shook her head. “Nothing would be the same.”

“But we don’t have the land to offer, Nate,” Eliot said with a sigh.

_“We don’t need to offer the land. We just need to offer a way for him to get the land.”_

And that was all they could get out of him before both Nate and Sophie approached Henderson.

Claire shook her head worriedly. “Come on, let’s get to the stage while Everette still has a couple of songs.”

Eliot laced his fingers through hers as they walked closer to the stage. “Nate knows what he’s doing, Claire. You just have to trust him.”

“I trust you,” she said softly. “That’s enough for now. Part of that land he’s playing with belongs to my family though. If they lose that—“

“Not gonna happen,” Eliot stated firmly. “It won’t.”

She smiled fondly at him and then leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “You have to stop promising things, Eliot. You can’t guarantee everything.”

He put a finger under her chin and met her eyes with a determined expression. “I can for you.”

She gave him a small smile filled with wonder and awe before she shook her head. “You get me with those eyes every damn time, Spencer. I believe everything you say when you look at me like that.”

Everette spotted her in the crowd and waved. She smiled easily and waved back just as he started his last song. She let Eliot listen to Nate and Sophie while she focused on her uncle. Eliot had her back. She trusted him to look out for her and her family. She always had. Nate and Sophie walked away from Henderson looking satisfied so she could only assume they were successful with getting an in. While Eliot pretended to be on the phone to talk with Nate and Sophie about their meeting, Claire made her way to the stage.

She’d almost reached it when a hand gripped the underside of her arm. She snatched her arm away and turned sharply to find who had tried to grab her. She found Henderson smirking at her. She glared at him and rubbed her arm.

“I’m sorry,” Henderson said with an apologetic glance. “I called your name but you didn’t seem to hear me.”

“So, grabbing at me was your next instinct?”

“Knee jerk reaction. I apologize. Let’s start over,” He said with a smile that looked very smarmy to her. He held out a hand for a shake. “Zac Henderson. I don’t believe we’ve met yet.”

“Claire,” she said stiffly as she shook his hand.

“Yes, I know,” he said with a smile. “You’re quite famous around here. You and your mother both.”

There was a jab in that sentence. She wasn’t surprised. She’d been subjected to that until she was taken away from this town. She loved this place but it was conservative to a fault and a select few of the people were critical to the point of being cruel. Her mother had never been modest or reserved. She had vocal critics in this town. She’d been used to it once upon a time but to have it brought up now by Henderson, of all people, felt like a slap to the face. Though, she tried not to show it, it stung.

She shrugged and gave him an overly pleasant smile. “Well, you know, everybody dies famous in a small town. Even you. What with all of your _contributions._ ”

“Thank you, but it seems you're contributing as well. Rumor is you and your husband are saving Speedy’s from extinction,” He asked curiously.

“It’s not Speedy’s anymore. We bought the place and we’re gonna make it ours. This town’s always been home a variety of barbecue. Can’t see any reason to stop now,” she told him with pride. “It’s one of the great things about this town.”

“Well, regardless of the result, it’ll be a valiant effort,” Henderson told her with a deceptively polite grin. He moved to step past her and grabbed the underside of her forearm again and gripped harder this time. It hurt. She had flashbacks of Chapman and Damien Moreau but swallowed them down. Not the time. He leaned into her space to whisper in her hear, “May the best _man_ win, hm? Be careful though, that old Speedy’s place is a bit of death trap. Who knows what sort of accidents might happen there.”

She gritted her teeth and stayed perfectly still. She wanted to haul off and punch him but Eliot was right earlier. He needed to think he had the upper hand. “Let go of me,” she said through her teeth. She tried to sound scared, though she was anything but. She was pissed is what she was. Not scared.

A throat cleared from behind her and Henderson immediately released her arm. “There you go, Ms. Lanier. You should be more careful around here. Uneven payment and all.”

“Yes, thank you,” she said softly, weakly, as she avoided looking at Eliot who she knew was standing behind her. She could feel him there.

“And you must be Roy Chapel,” Henderson said as he held out a hand for a shake.

Eliot quirked a brow at him and ignored his hand. “Yes, sir, that’d be me.”

“I was just offering your lovely wife some friendly advice from someone who’s been in this business a few years,” he said as he feigned smile widened and he retracted his hand.

“We’ve got all the advice we need. Thank you, sir,” Eliot told him as he put an arm around Claire’s shoulders and pulled her into his side. “Now, if you don’t mind. My wife and I are going to go say hello to her uncle before the next set starts.”

“Of course,” he said with a nod. “I was just going anyway. Don’t let me keep you.”

“We won’t,” Eliot told him coldly as he led Claire away. As soon as they were out of earshot, Eliot pressed his lips to Claire’s ear as they walked. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Ready to give this guy hell, but otherwise fine.” She rubbed her arm absently as they continued to make their way toward her uncle.

“You hurt?” Eliot asked worriedly.

“Jackass couldn’t hurt me if he tried,” she said with narrowed eyes. “I’m fine. You said he'd try intimidation. You were right.”

“I heard most of the exchange over coms. I gotta say though,” Eliot said with a concerned furrowed brow. “I didn’t expect him to try it himself. He doesn’t seem like the type to get his hands dirty. I may have underestimated him.”

“No, you didn’t. He’s the coward you think he is. He waited until you were preoccupied and I was alone before he tried anything. He saw me as weaker, more susceptible to his shit,” she told him. “That’s cowardice. You were right on target.”

They dropped the case as they reached her uncle and made small talk with Everette for a few minutes before parting ways and heading back to the cottage. Eliot had been watching her rub her arm all night long. She was also distracted. Something about that interaction with Henderson had bothered her. He was worried. He’d hadn’t heard the beginning of the exchange but what came after was typical intimidation. He knew she’d heard speeches like that before. Once they stepped inside the cottage he turned to give her an expectant look as she rubbed her arm yet again.

“Claire,” he said sternly. “What’s with your arm?”

She huffed. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? You sure?”

“It’s just a little bruise, Eliot. I’ve had worse,” she told him with a roll of her eyes. “Is your crew coming by?” She asked as she changed the topic.

“Yeah, in about half an hour,” he told her. He was choosing to ignore how furious Henderson bruising her or touching her at all made him feel for the moment. They had a job to do. But how quiet she was still worried him. “What happened with Henderson? Why have you been so quiet tonight?”

“Eliot,” she said stiffly. “We’ve never pushed each other before. Let’s not start now, hm? It was nothing. Let’s leave it at that.”

“If that’s what you want,” Eliot said with a sigh. “I’m not going to force you to talk about it. Just…if you need to, you know that I—“

“If I need to talk about it you’re the only person I’d run to, Sparky,” she told him as her stiff stern face melted into an affectionate one. “I promise.”

“Good enough for me,” he said as he pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. “I should have been there sooner.”

“No,” she assured him. “It was better that it played out like it did. He thinks I’m afraid of him. He thinks he’s got the upper hand just like we wanted. Set him up, knock him down, right?”

He nodded and grinned at her before he repeated her words. “Set him up knock him down.”


	8. Chapter Seven: Restoration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much needed alone time for Claire and Eliot where they talk and...other things. ;)

Chapter Seven: Restoration 

The meeting with the others went well. Hardison brought them the permits and inspection papers as well as the photos and signage they requested. He also brought them their IDs and copies of the marriage certificate he faked for Claire Lanier and Roy Chapel. He grumbled the entire time, as Claire expected. Nate didn’t tell them all the details of the plan that night. He did mention that he and Sophie were going to nudge Henderson toward violent intimidation and bribery so they could obtain legal proof and in order to do that they were going to convince him the new restaurant was a threat that needed to be extinguished.

So far, so good, if his threat to Claire was any indication. They left quietly and as Eliot walked them out Claire left to change and get ready for bed.

“Hey,” Nate asked as they reached the door. “Is she okay?”

“She says she is,” Eliot told him as he glanced briefly at the door to the bedroom.

“She seemed…subdued,” Nate said with a furrowed brow.

“I noticed,” Eliot said with a sigh. “But we have a, uh, don’t ask don’t tell situation—“

“I don’t think she needs to tell you what’s wrong for you to know what’s bothering her, Eliot,” Nate said as he gave him a pointed glance. “You know her better than anyone. We can all see that. Use it. Look at her and _use_ what you know.”

Eliot nodded as he thought about those words. Nate was a mastermind and he could read people’s actions as thoughts. It was valid advice. “Thanks, man.”

“You two be careful with Henderson,” Nate told him. “He’s not quite what I expected.”

“I know what you mean,” Eliot said as he thought about the bruise that was bound to be on Claire’s arm. “He’s more _aggressive,_ ” Eliot said with a sneer. “Than I anticipated.”

“Are you going to be able to keep a clear head with her in the game?” Nate asked as he noticed the sneer.

“I’m a professional, Nate,” Eliot said with a slight tone of resentment. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Nate told him. “But trust me, when it gets personal things become…foggy.”

Eliot smirked at him. “Yeah, I’ve seen you fog things up live and in person, Nate. I’m aware.”

“I’ve seen you do that too,” Nate reminded him. “I seem to recall a job with a childhood sweetheart and some horses that—“

“Claire ain’t Aimee,” Eliot said with a huff.

“No. No, she’s not, but that job was personal for you and you almost took it to far.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you’ve never taken it too far because, damn it, Nate—“

“You don’t want to be like me,” Nate interrupted him with a chuckle. “We both know it. You call me out often enough for us both to be aware of how much you would _not_ want to be like me. That’s why we’re having this conversation. I’m trying to save you from doing what I would do.”

The bedroom door opened and Claire came out in sweats with her hair pulled back and a frown immediately formed on her face at the sight of Eliot and Nate involved in an intense conversation.

“Is everything okay?” Claire asked with a furrowed brow.

“Fine, darlin’,” Eliot said as he gave her a soft smile. He turned a stern look on Nate before he spoke again. “Nate was just saying good night.”

Nate nodded. Deciding to let the conversation go. “Yes, I was just leaving. Have a good night, Claire.”

She waved with a questioning glance at Eliot. “Good night, Nate.”

Eliot shut the door behind Nate and turned to find Claire staring at him with a quirked brow. “What was that?” she asked.

“Just Nate, offering some unnecessary advice. It’s not important,” Eliot said with a small smile and a shrug.

“You can just say you don’t want to talk about it,” Claire told him with a small sympathetic smile as she crossed the small room. “You don’t have to lie.”

“It’s only important because it’s Nate,” Eliot admitted. “And…he might be right.”

Claire stepped into him and placed her hands on his arms, before rubbing them soothingly to offer comfort. He placed his arms around her waist and they just stood there in the silence for a few moments, with Claire rubbing his arms and Eliot enjoying the sound of her steady breathing. His eyes drifted to her t-shirt an then he grinned.

“You stole my shirt,” he said with a teasing smirk.

She squinted one eye and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Mmm, nope.”

He quirked a brow at her and shook his head. “Yeah, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“How do you figure?” Eliot asked her with a chuckle.

“Well, Shug, in case you’ve forgotten, we’re married now so what’s mine is yours and…what’s yours is mine. Therefore, not stolen,” She said with a wink. “Besides, grifter,” she said as she pointed to herself.

“Fine,” Eliot said with a teasing roll of his eyes. “But that’s my favorite shirt.”

“Nitty Gritty Dirt Band?” She asked with a tone of approval as she glanced down at the band logo on the shirt. “Good choice.”

He looked stiff despite his teasing expression. Worried, concerned. He was trying not to show it but it was her job to see past what people wanted her to see. Her hands moved from his arms to his shoulders, then her arms went around his neck, and her hands slipped in to the hair at the nape of his neck. She slowly and gently massaged him there. He leaned forward and bent down slightly to place his head on her shoulder. She felt him relax as she held him.

“We’re in my hometown, yet you seem to be the one who’s stressed out,” Claire said observantly as she turned her head and placed a kiss to his temple.

He chuckled against her shoulder. “I’m stressed out because you’re stressed out, sweetheart.” He held her waist tighter and pulled her further against him.

“I’m not stressed—“

“Claire,” Eliot said in a tone that clearly stated how little he believed her.

She sighed. “Okay, so I am.”

“Something Henderson said upset you,” Eliot stated. “You can deny it but I know it’s true. And that bruise on your arm, it bothers you. You say it doesn’t but it does. I _know_ all of this but you won’t talk to me about any of it. So, then I worry. I don’t want to push you because I know that’s not what we do, but…you’ve been withdrawn since you ran into him. I want to help you—to ease some of what you’re feeling—but I can’t.”

She stopped massaging for a moment and then sighed sadly before she kissed his temple once again. “Eliot Spencer the Protector. You just can’t stand that you can’t take this on for me, don’t you?”

He huffed and then stood up straight before he gave her tired look.

She grinned softly at him. “You need something to punch, don’t you?”

“Oh, I know what I could punch. But punching Henderson might blow our cover.”

“Eliot, really,” Claire said as she looked him in the eyes with a confident expression. “This bruise,” she said as she took one of his hands and placed it over the black and blue handprint on her arm. “Doesn’t bother me. I meant it earlier when I told you I’d had worse. The bruise isn’t what hurt. It’s the memories the bruise brought with it. That’s the same arm Chapman bruised before you—before you suddenly came back into my life. It reminded me of what it felt like to be alone. To be truly alone. _That’s_ what bothered me.”

His hand gently caressed the bruise on her arm and then traveled up to her shoulder and stopped in the curve of her neck with his thumb lightly caressing her jaw. “You know you’re not going to be there ever again, don’t you? You’re not alone anymore and you’re never going to be again. I’m always here, anytime you need me.”

“I know,” she said with a warm smile.

“Do you?” He asked with a concerned expression. “Because sometimes you act like it’s still just you. I love you, Claire. It’s not just you anymore.”

She leaned up on her toes and placed a long and slow kiss on his lips. She let the kiss linger as long as she could and then closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his. “ _I know_ ,” she repeated. “You’ve got to give me some time with this, though, Eliot. I haven’t had anyone else to care about me since I was 11 years old. Not really. There were one or two almosts who failed me miserably and then people who treated me like a possession. That’s all I’ve had for fifteen years. _You_ are the one exception. I’m not…I’m not used to that yet. Part of me still thinks that being anywhere with you is too good to be true.”

“It might be,” he told her with a small warm smile. “But that’s the best part about it.”

She opened her eyes and smiled brightly at him. “God, I love you. You and your grumpy grumbling and then this other side with a gooey warm center and a compulsion to keep a neat house.”

“Hey,” he said with a playful glare. “The gooey warm center stays between the two of us. Got it?”

She laughed and then kissed him quickly. “Got it.” She slipped her arms around his waist and then placed her hands in the back pocket of his jeans. She leaned as close into him as she could and then trailed kisses from his jaw to his neck to his collar bone and then made her way back up. She leaned up on her toes to be eye level with him and pressed her cheek to his so she could whisper in his ear. “Why don’t you show me how _not alone_ I am right now? Hm?”

She used her hands in his back pockets to tug him forward and pressed herself tightly against him.

His hands moved to her waist and she felt his fingers squeezing her sides, his grip was firm and full of want and need. He backed her up toward the kitchen without breaking the kisses for a single moment. When her back hit the cabinets, he used his grip on her waist to lift her up onto the counter. Once she was on the counter she wrapped her legs around his waist. For his part his hand slipped underneath her borrowed t-shirt and absently traced circles on her back. She sighed against his lips and then eagerly ground herself against him. He let out a soft growl and moved against her as well in response. She smirked against his kisses as she felt the tightness in his jeans and then reached for the button fly. She undid each button with a pop. She left his fly loose and then grabbed the bottom hem of his t-shirt.

They broke the kiss just long enough for Eliot to remove the shirt and toss it on to the kitchen floor. He replaced his hands under shirt, only this time he slipped them up the front instead of the back. The minute his callused hands barely brushed the underside of her breasts she whimpered pathetically.

Oh God, she thought, she’d never whimpered before. Not ever. Yet with Eliot she couldn’t help herself. She ground herself against him again to show her approval of his actions so far and he groaned before his kisses became more forceful and instrusive. Her lips were already feeling a bit swollen. And, holy hell, did she love it.

Just as she was getting lost in the kisses, Eliot moved one hand from her shirt and slowly slid it down until his hand dipped below the waistband of her sweatpants. She pulled back from his kisses and gasped in appreciation as his fingers brushed against her hot, very wet, core.

Eliot moved his lips to her ear and she could feel his smirk against her cheek. “Now who has the warm gooey center?”

She laughed breathlessly as she arched against him. “Oh God, shut up and kiss me some more, Spencer.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” He practically growled as his lips smothered hers again.

Why did every moment with him feel so incredibly perfect? And what had she ever done to deserve it?

* * *

 

The next morning she woke up with her bare chest against Eliot’s, feeling refreshed and well rested despite the fact that she’d barely gotten any sleep. They’d been up _much_ later than they should have been. She placed small gentle kisses on his chest and trailed them up to his jaw until he opened his eyes and rolled her underneath him. 

“Good mornin’,” he said with a smirk.

She blushed and smiled sleepily at him. “Good morning.”

He met her eyes and then reached a hand up to softly caress her cheek. “You know what I haven’t done in nearly 4 weeks?” He asked.

“What?”

“Made you breakfast,” he said before he leaned in and kissed her very slowly. He pulled back from the kiss and then got out of bed. She sat up and leaned against the headboard as she watched him dig boxers and a t-shirt out of his bag. She sighed contentedly and then slid out of the covers herself. She picked her sweats and t-shirt up off the floor from the night before and tossed them back on. She’d barely had a chance to wear them the night before anyway.

He grabbed her hand and led her out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where she sat at the breakfast bar and watched him work. She loved watching him cook.

Today they were going to paint the restaurant and the booths and then hang up the new signage and photos. After breakfast, Claire discovered she didn’t have any tops appropriate for painting. Eliot leant her an old flannel shirt of his he’d brought with him. She put the shirt on over her underwear as she finished getting ready for the day. Just as she pulled the toothbrush out of her mouth and rinsed, Eliot’s lips were on hers. She made a muffled surprised noise and then sunk into the kiss when they finally pulled apart she gave him a questioning glance.

“What was that about?”

“That was about how damn good you look in my shirt,” he told her with a wink and a smirk.

That led them to a bit of a…distraction, and made them late leaving for the day. But neither one of them even pretended to regret it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've never really been one to write full on smut. This is about as close as I've ever gotten LOL.   
> Hope it was sufficient.   
> Thanks for reading!   
> angellwings


	9. Chapter Eight: Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire learns something about Henderson that raises the stakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this has taken so long to post! But here it is! The next chapter! Hope you all like it!

They arrived at the restaurant an hour after Kip and immediately got to work. Claire and Eliot started on refreshing the inside of the restaurant and hanging the pictures and signage Hardison made up for them. Hardison forged the inspection papers and the permits too to make sure the place would be operational. He’d gotten the necessary documents to them at the meeting the night before. And Kip was getting the kitchen and the food ready to go.

Claire and Eliot were painting the walls and the booths while listening to the rest of the crew on coms. Hardison and Parker were working their way into the Festival staff. Parker in the food service tent and Hardison with the sound crew. Sophie and Nate were meeting with Henderson again. Advising him that any competition or resistance from the locals could complicate their plan to obtain the land around town. He didn’t need the competition or the attention.

Which meant he’d need to act fast to bring down The Barbecue Pit. And when he did they’d catch him in the act and take him for all he was worth.

At that moment Ada appeared at the glass door and knocked eagerly. Claire wiped the paint on her hands on a cloth and then opened the door. “What’s up, Ada?”

“We had a judge for Little Miss Barbecue Festival drop out,” Ada told her urgently. “You’re the only person available who’s qualified to step in.”

“What?” Claire asked with wide nervous eyes. “I don’t think so.”

“You’re all we’ve got Claire. It’s an emergency.”

“Yeah, darlin’,” Eliot said with an amused grin. “It’s an emergency.”

She glared at him and then rolled her eyes. “I haven’t done pageants since I was a kid, Ada.”

“Good enough for me,” Ada said as she grabbed her arm. “Come on, it’ll take an hour or two tops.”

“We’re sort of in the middle of work here.”

“Nah,” Kip said from behind the counter as he hopped over it and then headed to where Claire had been painting. He smirked teasingly at her as he picked up her brush. “I’m done in the kitchen. I can cover for you.”

“You _really_ don’t have to do that, Kip,” Claire said through gritted teeth and a false smile.

“Not a problem at all, Lanier,” He said with a smirk. “Go, have fun.”

“Yes, see! They get it,” Ada told her as she opened the door. “Come on, we’ve got just enough time to get there before it starts.”

“But I really don’t—“ It was too late. Ada was dragging her out the door and down the street. “Okay, sure, I guess I’ll help.”

“Great! I knew you would. You’re a good sport,” Ada said as though she really didn’t care what Claire had really wanted to say.

“Maybe I could change first?” Claire asked as she looked down at her borrowed flannel and paint covered jeans. She was wearing Eliot’s shirt, so it was big, and then jeans were nearly ripped to pieces.

“No time,” Ada said as she walked faster toward the community civic center. “Besides,” she said as she turned her head to look her over. “You look…fine.”

Claire rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Gee, thanks.”

She took her in through the back of the civic center, handed her a clip board and then led her out to the judging table. Claire sighed and sat down next to two other women who were much younger than her. They both wore Miss Barbecue Festival sashes and tiaras. At least, she did her hair and put on make up this morning so she didn’t look like a total bum. In this case, she could thank her mother for that crippling self doubt that left her unable to go with out make up and perfect hair in public.

For the next two hours she critiqued little girls for the way they walked, the way they stood, the way they spoke, and their over all grace and poise. She hated it as a kid and she hated it even more now. But one girl in particular did interest her. Her hair was in soft curls strategically placed, framing her face and covering her shoulders. Her sleeves were long, which was odd for an indoor competition at the very beginning of fall, she thought. Though no one else thought anything of it. The smile on her face was large and false yet successfully deceptive to anyone who didn’t know that expression themselves. Claire had worn that look for most of her life. Though, she hadn’t been quite as young as this girl when she started. The little girls nose also had a ridge in it, similar to Claire’s own. She’d broken her nose at some point. Could be anything. Children have accidents, though from her experience little girls in beauty pageants were extra careful to not hurt anything a judge would see during a competition. Something was odd about this one.

She looked down at her sheet with the entrant’s names and corresponding numbers and her eyes narrowed at the name she found on the page.

 _Charlotte Henderson_.

Henderson’s daughter. Claire glanced down at her arm that he’d bruised and then back at the little girl on the stage. _Bastard_ , she thought with a gulp. Claire was preoccupied for the rest of the competition but still voted for her favorites. Turns out Charlotte won. Her mother ran on stage to meet her as the crown was placed on her head and the bouquet presented. Claire observed her with a shrewd eye. Dark sunglasses indoors, heavy make up, long sleeves. She hurried off stage as quickly as she came on, an indication that she didn’t want attention.

As the crowd dispersed Claire made her way backstage and found both mother and daughter packing up and preparing to leave.

Claire knocked on the dressing room door and she thought they were both going to jump out of their skin.

“Hello,” she said with a soft smile. “I just came down to offer my congratulations.”

She shook hands with the mother and noticed a wide cuff on her wrist, but on the underside of that cuff she make out a hint of a black and blue bruise. Much like the one on her own arm. She then shook hands with Charlotte and noticed the little girl seemed to make herself cheerful.

“Thank you,” the little girl told her.

“How old are you, Charlotte?” Claire asked.

“Ten,” Charlotte said proudly.

“Well, you are a very talented girl. I can tell you’re going places,” Claire told her with a wink. “Lottie. Can I call you Lottie?”

Charlotte giggled and nodded. That giggle as actually genuine. “My mom calls me Lottie!”

“Well, makes sense. It suits you,” Claire said with a gentle smile.

There was a bang on the back door and both Charlotte and Mrs. Henderson jumped again. This time Zac Henderson appeared through it.

“That’s more like it!” he said excitedly. “I knew my little girl was a winner. All you needed to do was try a little harder. Right, Charlotte?”

“Yes, daddy,” She said dutifully as her smile disappeared.

“Ms. Lanier,” Henderson said as he acknowledged her with a nod. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be fixing up your… _charming_ little restaurant?”

“I was a judge for the competition,” she informed him. “I just came by to offer my congratulations to your daughter and wife.”

“They are quite the prizes, aren’t they?” He asked Claire as he put an arm around his wife’s waist and jerked her toward him.

“Very lovely,” Claire said as she held back the rising bile in her throat. Prizes? Oh god, she hated him. He was just like every other man she’d met prior to Eliot Spencer. Women were objects, possessions, trophies. When they didn’t meet his expectations he punished them. But the catch was, they could never meet his expectations.

Claire saw straight through him. Horrible, horrible man.

“Well,” Claire said as she nodded at Charlotte and her mother. “Lottie, congrats on your win again and I should be going. I’ve got a restaurant to get back to.”

“Bye, Ms. Lanier!” Charlotte said brightly. Mr. Henderson gave his daughter a sharp look and she immediately withered.

“Bye, Lottie,” Claire said with a sad smile and a wink.

She exited the building and quickly pressed the com in her ear to turn it back on. “Guys, we’ve got something else to add to this bastard’s list of crimes.”

“ _What_?” Eliot could be heard asking.

“Let’s just say I’m not the only one Henderson has bruised this week.”

_“I don’t like the sound of that.”_

“I wanted to take him down before,” Claire said as she headed back toward the restaurant. “But now I want make sure he never gets back up. Think we can do that?”

 _“Oh, we can definitely do that,”_ Nate said in a mischievous tone. _“What did you find out_?”

“He’s got a wife and daughter. A ten year old daughter who wears a fake smile and a wife who wears sunglasses indoors. You tell me what you think that means.”

 _“Shit_ ,” Eliot cursed over the coms.

“ _What if she just likes sunglasses?”_ Hardison asked.

“He referred to them both as ‘prizes’, Hardison. No, this man sees them as possessions. I know his type. Up close and personal,” Claire said through gritted teeth.

“ _This is a whole new ballgame, Nate. We’ve got more victims than we realized_ ,” Eliot said worriedly.

 _“We keep going with the plan we’ve got. We cross that bridge when we get to it_.”

Claire rolled her eyes and pressed the com to turn it off. Cross that bridge when they get to it? Some priorities this Nate Ford had. Claire turned and headed for her truck instead. She couldn’t listen to this anymore. They couldn’t wait for whatever plan Nate had in mind. They needed to do something _now_. She wouldn’t allow that little girl to—

She reached her truck and violently kicked the front tire. Her level of frustration required it. She wanted to punch Henderson but the truck would have to do for now. She leaned against the side of the truck rested her head against the window. This man owned half the town, this man was running the locals out of business, _this man_ treated people like play things. He was corrupt and violent and—

“Where you going, Lanier?” Eliot asked as he approached the truck from the direction of the restaurant.

“Cross that bridge when we get to it, Eliot?” She asked him with a glare as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Really?”

“Claire—“

“There’s a little girl out there, Spencer, who’s perfected the art of a fake smile. Not just any fake smile but a truly believable one. She’s fucking _grifting._ She’s _ten_. And we’re just going to stand by and let that man kill her spirit before she’s really even begun to live?” She asked him angrily.

“We jump on this now and he’ll get out of it, Claire. You know that,” Eliot said as he placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to sooth her. “He’ll be out of jail by morning and he’ll go after them harder. We need something that he can’t lie his way out of. You and I both know jumping into this _right_ now will only escalate it. You _know_ that.” He was repeating himself and talking softly and slowly. He needed her to hear him. He only did that when it was important. 

She had closed her eyes while he was talking to take in his words. He was right. She knew he was right. God damn it, he was right. She hated it. It twisted and writhed in her stomach but he was right. She pulled away from the truck to lean into Eliot and felt him wrap his arms around her.

“I hate this,” She said as angry tears collected in her eyes.

“Believe me, I do too.”

He kissed her temple and rubbed her back.

“She’s gonna grow up to be me. She’s gonna grow up thinking the only way to avoid being hurt is to do the hurting and not really understand why it has to be that way. Or what she did to deserve any of it. She’s gonna let it turn her into something mean and spiteful,” Claire told him as she laid her head against his chest. “Someone who doesn’t give a shit what happens to her because it’s all downhill from here anyway.”

“Claire,” Eliot said softly as he pulled away slightly and forced her to look him in the eyes. “That’s not gonna be this girl. We’re gonna help her. We just need more time. We do this right then we can keep him away from her _for good_. We do this right and she’ll never have to be afraid of him again. That’s what we want. That’s what _you_ want, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she answered in a voice ragged with emotions. “He just gets under my skin. He’s—He’s—my stepfather. He’s exactly like him, Eliot. He’s Chapman, he’s Moreau, he’s…every man that has ever mistreated me in my entire life and I want him far away from my home. I want him gone for good.”

“We’re working on it,” Eliot told her as he wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Let’s go to the cottage for a bit, okay? Get out of here.”

She rested her head against his chest again and nodded. “Okay.”

“Look,” Eliot said softly into her hair. “I know you don’t want this girl to go through what you did, but if she’s as strong as you are, darlin’, she’ll make it through.”

“I hope so.”

“Good,” he told her. “Hope is a good place to start.”

Eliot drove Claire back to the cottage where she showered and changed out of her painting clothes. She washed her face and pulled her hair back and as she came out of the bedroom she found Eliot staring at her with a strange smile on his face. She pulled the towel tighter around her self consciously as she approached him.

“What? What’s wrong?”

He laughed. “Nothing’s wrong. I just…I like seeing your face. No make up. Just your clean bare face. Your freckles, especially.”

She smirked at him and rolled her eyes. “You like my frizzy hair and the dark circles under my eyes? I think you’re being sentimental, Spencer. I didn’t know you had that in you.”

“Yeah, well, you twist me all around, Lanier.”

“Same here, Shug,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m different with you. A better sort of different, I think.”

“You feeling any better?” He asked as he ran a gentle hand over her bruised arm.

“I’m feeling more composed,” she said with a sigh. “Not sure that’s any better. But it’ll do for now. I’m sorry about earlier. I just--this guy he gets under my skin and to top it all off he’s _here_ near my family. In my _hometown_. This place has always been safe from the type of men I’ve dealt with since I left here and now…”

“Now that world has been brought into this one,” he said knowingly. “I get it and you don’t have to apologize for confiding in me, Claire. I told you, if you need to talk I’m here. Coming home is a difficult thing on its own but you throw in this douche bag and I’m sure it makes it much more emotional. I came to find you at the truck because I could hear how upset you were and this thing that we have, whatever it is, means I want to be here for you. I want to help you. You just have to let me.”

She leaned up on her toes and kissed him slowly with a thankful affection that was still new to him from her. She pulled away and maintained eye contact with him. “The same goes double for you, Mr. Takes-a-Bullet-and-Keeps-on-Ticking. You worry me sometimes. I know what your job is and I know who you are but the idea of you going back to your empty apartment in Boston beaten and bloody just—“ she stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m here for you even if you just need somebody to help you nurse your wounds, got that? You big jerk,” she said with a frustrated yet warm tone as she playfully smacked one of his arms that had wrapped around her.

He chuckled softly and nodded. “I got it.”

She removed one arm from around his neck to place her hand over his heart. She’d done this several times before and he always wondered why. She stared at her hand as it covered his heart for a moment and then used her other hand on the back of his neck to pull his lips down to hers for a slow kiss. Today had been rough, but she was starting to remember what it was like to have someone you could count on.

And he was glad for that.


	10. Chapter Nine: Interference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henderson escalates the situation.

Chapter Nine: Interference

 

They skipped the festivities that night. Kip was there, spreading the word about the restaurant, along with Claire’s aunt and uncle. The paint job had been finished and so had the signage and photos. The place was ready to open the next day for lunch. So, they could take a night to stay in. Besides, Eliot was fairly certain Claire would physically fight Henderson if she saw him right now. Not that he wouldn’t love to see her sock him in the jaw but that probably wasn’t the best idea given their current job.

She’d pulled on his t-shirt she’d worn the night before and a pair of lacy underwear that just peaked out from behind. As much as she disagreed, this was how he liked her best. Open and honest and imperfect. The old TV in the bedroom of the cottage was playing whatever music videos CMT decided to play late at night and the light off the screen was lighting up the dark room. It bounced off of the walls and the furniture and Claire as she laid curled into his side on the bed. She had a hand over his heart and the other caught between them.

“Why do you do that?” Eliot finally asked as he tapped her hand that covered his heart.

“The rhythm of it…is soothing,” she told him. “Steady, thumping, alive. You’re always so dependable, Eliot. So…rooted in strength. Feeling your heart beat in your chest, lends me some of it and reminds me you’re still here.”

He reached a hand over and caressed her cheek. “Not leaving you behind ever again, Lanier.”

“Don’t say that,” she told him with a shake of her head.

“Why not? It’s true.”

“Eliot, that’s not what I want,” she said with a sigh. “I love you and with the situations we find ourselves in a statement like that could be fatal. I’d rather you leave me behind than end up dead.”

“Trust me, Claire, if I have anything to say about it neither of those things will happen,” Eliot promised.

“Be careful with those lofty promises, Cowboy,” Claire told him with a gentle smile.

“What?” He asked with a grin. “You wouldn’t come for me if I were ever in trouble?”

“Oh no, I’d come for you. I’d come for you so fast I’d break the sound barrier,” she told him as she placed a kiss to his jaw. “But I’m a grifter. If I’m doing my job your captors would let me in the front door. It’d be quiet and subtle and sneaky. You. You’re a hitter. Loud and messy and more likely to end bloody. With just as much of your blood as theirs. There’s no point in you coming for me if you don’t make it out alive.”

He thought about that for a moment and how logical that sounded. He shrugged and then nodded. “Okay, I see your point. Would it make you feel better if I brought back up?”

She chuckled and nodded. “Much. Somebody to keep you from getting yourself killed. Anybody.”

“Deal,” Eliot agreed.

“What do normal people talk about in bed, I wonder?” Claire asked him with a smirk.

Eliot chuckled. “No clue. Probably argue over what to watch on television or something.”

“We’ve done that before,” Claire told him with a chuckle. “Once.”

“Yeah, when you were staying with me,” he said thoughtfully. “Speaking of,” Eliot said with a nervous gulp. “You plan on coming back anytime soon?”

She moved her hand from his chest to his chin and forced him to look at her. “Of course. I told you, I’m always gonna come back to you. I meant that. And you and I both know, the longer I stay here the more I put people in this town at risk. The plan was never to stay here long term.”

“Do you have another job in mind after this?”

“No, not currently. Still have plenty of the pay out left from that last job. No rush to find another one.”

“So, then where do you plan on staying after we’re finished here?” He asked as he cleared his throat anxiously.

“Eliot,” Claire said in amusement. “Just spit it out. What are you trying to ask me?”

“Half your stuff is already in my apartment,” Eliot stated as he took a deep breath. “I’m accustomed to having you there. We’ve gotten used to sharing a bed—“

“Too used to sharing a bed. Do you know how hard it is to sleep without you?” Claire said as she interrupted him with a wink.

“Exactly,” Eliot said with a nod. “So, with that in mind, I mean maybe you should just…move in.”

He felt her tense against his side. “What?” She asked. “Move in? To your place? Officially?”

“Why not? You’re already practically living with me when you’re not on a job, aren’t you?” He asked. He was concerned with the way she’d tensed up.

“I don’t know, Eliot,” she said with a furrowed brow. “I mean, we just started this _thing_ that we have and I’ve just gotten out from under Moreau. Would it be a good idea to jump right into that after… _him_? I—I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. Don’t get me wrong, Sparky, I love you. I do. And I love being with you. You make me feel cared for and safe and…like a person instead of a possession. I haven’t had that in a very long time. But I—it seems sudden to go from Moreau to…domesticity. Does that make sense?”

He was disappointed. He wouldn’t lie. But he could see her point. She’d just gotten her freedom back plus she was still healing. She may not be ready for what he was asking of her. “It makes sense,” he said as he kissed the top of her head. “The offer’s always gonna be there, though. You just tell me when you’re ready.”

She nodded and snuggled further into him. “I can do that." 

“You know what we should do when this job is over?” Eliot asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“What?” She asked as she rested her chin on his chest and glanced up at him.

“We should go camping. You and me, a river, a tent, and a fire.”

She smiled warmly at him and then nodded. “I haven’t been camping since I was a kid. Well, not unless you count sleeping in an abandoned car on the side of a dirt road in the Italian countryside. And I don’t think you can.”

Eliot chuckled. “Probably not. You on board?”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod. “I could do with some alone time and a dose of nature when this is all said and done.”

“Good,” he said with a nod. “It’s a done deal.”

“Grandpa and Everette used to go camping all the time. I bet he still knows the best spots,” Claire told him as she tried not to yawn. “You may want to ask him.”

“Will do,” Eliot told her. “You tired yet?” He asked with a grin.

This time she actually did yawn before she answered him. “Seems like it,” she said with a sleepy chuckle.

“Sleep,” he told her. “Tomorrow’s a big day.”

“Tomorrow we piss off Henderson more than we have so far,” she said with a groggy grin as she buried her face in Eliot’s chest and pulled the blankets up higher around her.

“That’s right,” Eliot said with a laugh. “Dream about ruining him.”

She hummed happily as she closed her eyes. “Don’t mind if I do.”

He chuckled as she drifted off to sleep and held her tighter against him. She kept things interesting, that was for sure.

* * *

 

The next morning Claire took off early before Eliot had even woken up. She left a note saying Ada had asked her to take her little cousins to day camp. She said she also had to watch the store for Everette and that she’d meet him at the restaurant at eleven. He got up and got dressed with out checking the clock. Once he was ready to leave he glanced down at his watch with a frown.

He’d slept till 10:30? How the hell had that happened?

He rushed out the door with Claire’s keys and raced down the gravel driveway toward the main road. He was late. At this rate, Claire would be there before him. His brow furrowed when he reached the main road and spotted smoke in the distance. The closer he got to the smoke, the closer he got to Lanier’s Building Supply. His chest tightened when he came around the curve and spotted the smoke rising from the building. He sped into the parking lot and came to a jolting stop outside of the building.

Claire was supposed to be in there.

He tapped his comm to turn it on and then checked his phone. He had two missed calls from the last five minutes.

 _“Eliot,”_ Hardison could be heard yelling into the comms.

“Shut up, man, I’m here. You talked to Claire?”

_“She was on comms and then she dropped off. She was at Lanier’s and said she thought somebody was there with her and then I lost her—“_

“Shit,” Eliot said as he jumped out the truck. “I’m here and there’s smoke rising up out of the building, man. You got GPS on her?”

 _“Yeah, she’s still there_.”

“Call the fire department. I’m going in,” Eliot said with a growl.

Where ever the fire was it must have been smaller. He couldn’t see any flames. He barged in the front door and bell rang overhead to indicate someone had entered. He continued through the front of the store and found no trace of Claire or anyone else. He stepped through to the back of the store where they kept the stock. The minute he stepped through the door someone charged him. He ducked down to hit the man running at him low and then stood up to flip him to the ground. He hit his head on the way down and the henchman was left unconscious.

Eliot rolled his eyes and then checked the man’s pockets and jacket for his identification and any additional weapons. He found a gun and quickly unloaded it. He took it with him as he searched the rest of the back room and then went out toward the lumber yard. There was a dumpster on the way so he ditched the gun.

“Hardison, the rent a cop’s name is Jameson. Willie Jameson.”

 _“Got it_. _Looking him up now.”_

“Get the fuck away from me, you low life ass hat.”

 _“I think you found Claire_ ,” Hardison said in a relieved and amused tone.

That’s where he found the fire. The thug had spread gasoline around a pile of sawdust and discarded lumber and lit it on fire. It was close to the main building and would eventually ignite the whole place. They needed to put it out.

He also needed to get Claire away from Henderson’s minion. He had his arms locked around Claire’s waist and had pulled her back against him. Just as he was about charge them Claire kicked out which caused him to life her off the ground just enough for her to throw her weight back. The back of her head hit his and the man lost his balance. He fell to the ground and his grip around Claire loosened enough for her to break free.

Eliot grinned with pride as he watched her. She had it under control. He grabbed the hose behind him and unwound it before turning on the water and racing toward the fire. Claire had disappeared but when she came back she had a fire extinguisher. They both started dousing the fire at the same time. Once it was out, Eliot quickly disarmed the unconscious man on the ground.

“You alright?” Eliot asked as he tossed the gun and turned back around to face her.

“I’m fine,” she answered quickly. “Did the fire spread anywhere else?”

“No,” Eliot assured her as he gave her a once over for any injuries. “If you’re so ‘fine’ then why the hell are you bleeding?” Eliot asked as he spotted the blood dripping down her upper arm.

“What?” She asked in surprise as she glanced down at her arm. “Shit, guy must have got me with his knife. It’s shallow. No worries.”

_“The fact that we work in a profession where someone can say that sentence and I’m actually relieved never ceases to terrify me.”_

“Where’s your comm?” Eliot asked as he resisted the urge to turn his off.

“It’s still in,” she told him. “I got hit upside the head and I think it broke.”

_“Hell, nah, my comms do not break. Not unless one of those fools smacked her exceptionally har—you know what, never mind. Forget I mentioned it. They absolutely break, on occasion, sometimes, very rarely.”_

Eliot could feel himself grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. “Hardison,” he sneered through gritted teeth. “Tell me you have something on rent a cop.”

“The other guy is Marty Jameson,” she told him. “They’re brothers. They made sure to point that out before the running started.”

“They say anything about _why_ they came after you?” Eliot asked her. He could feel the rest of him tensing up.

“It was intimidation, Spencer. You know how these things go. They never say more than they have to. But I think we can both guess,” Claire said with a sigh. “They gave me a very vague ‘it’s best you get out of town.’ speech.”

_“The Jameson Brothers, found them. Man, these are some bad dudes. They’re local though. Enforcers. Never see them heading any further south than Georgia or any further north than West Virginia.”_

“The type of guys that are professional enough to not implicate Henderson in any small way,” Eliot said with a huff. “There’s got to be some link between them.”

 _“Working on it_ ,” Hardison told him. _“The two of you are late. You were supposed to meet Kip twenty minutes ago.”_

Claire took out her broken comm and pocketed it. “We’re late,” Claire reminded him. “Kip’s probably waiting.”

 _“See, I told you_." 

“Shut up, Hardison,” Eliot said before he looked over at Claire. “I’m less concerned about Kip and more concerned about you. We need to do something about that cut and I want to take a good look at you too. First you said you were fine and now there’s a bleeding cut and a hit upside the head.”

“Eliot—“

“Claire.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed in resignation. “Fine.”

“You know, you really don’t have to be such a handful,” Eliot grumbled.

“If I weren’t, you’d be bored,” Claire said with a smirk and a chuckle. “You know you like it.”

“Yes, I do like it,” Eliot admitted. “But only when it doesn’t make me worry about you. Which is all the time. So really I don’t like it.”

“You worry about me?” Claire asked with a scoff. “Eliot, I worry about _you_ all the time. I never know if you’re going to come back from any given job. Sometimes, the shoe _has_ to be on the other foot, Spencer. You’ll have to deal with it.”

When she put it like that how could he do anything else?


	11. Chapter Ten: Grand Opening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The restaurant finally opens.

Chapter Ten: Grand Opening

 

On Claire’s insistence they headed to the restaurant first before Eliot addressed the cut on her arm and the bruising that had started to show on the side of her face. He was pissed. He knew intimidation was coming but he’d thought he’d be right there with her when it happened. He underestimated Henderson’s cowardice.

He’d parked in the back alley behind the restaurant and sat Claire on the tailgate while he bandaged her arm. She was massaging the right side of her face and moving her jaw to test how hard those idiots had hit her. The bruising was starting to show around her temple and her ear.

“How’s it look?” She asked him.

“Like I should have been there.”

“Eliot, stop,” Claire said with a sigh as she removed her damaged comm from her ear. “I’ve had worse. I’m fine. See?” She said as she placed a hand under his chin and lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I’m right here. Bruises and cuts got nothing on me, Cowboy.”

He sighed and nodded as he finished the bandage on her arm.

“So, how’s it look?” Claire asked again.

He reached up and gently moved her hair out from behind her ear so that her red waves fell softly over the side of her face. “Can’t even tell now.”

She nodded and then leaned forward and kissed Eliot slowly. As he returned the kiss his hands carefully wrapped around her wrists if only to verify the strength of her pulse. She was there in front of him, kissing him, but somehow it wasn’t enough. He needed something else to assure him. She was comforted by a hand on his chest and he found himself comforted by the steady thumping in her wrists. She _really was_ fine. She was alive and there with him.

She pulled away from the kiss and settled a warm smile on him. “Feel better now?” She asked as she closed her hands around his wrists. His hands still held her wrists as he nodded.

“Good, because now we have to go in there and open this restaurant,” she told him. She moved to hop down of the tailgate but he lifted her and helped her down instead. “Can I borrow your jacket?” she asked as she tugged on the zip hoodie he was wearing over his short sleeved t-shirt. “I probably should cover up my arm.”

“Of course,” he told her as he took it off and handed it to her. She quickly put it on and pushed the sleeves up to the elbows.

“Let’s do this,” she said before she looped her arm through his and pulled him in the back door of the restaurant.

“Hey, where you been?” Kip asked as the door opened. “I heard the fire department was called out to Lanier’s. They found a smoking pile of lumber. Anybody hurt?”

“No,” Eliot answered with a huff. “Thankfully.”

“I was the only person there,” Claire informed him. She sounded grateful which, given who could have been there instead of her, both Eliot and Kip understood.

“I’m assuming it was you-know-who?” Kip said as he finished preparing the coleslaw.

“We can’t prove it,” Eliot grumbled. “Not yet, anyway.”

 _“We will_ ,” Hardison offered over comms. _“We’ll prove it_. _I’m sending Parker to you with a replacement comm for Claire.”_

“We can’t worry about it now,” Claire told him. “We’ve got half an hour till we open at noon. I’m going to check on the dining area and make sure we’re ready to go.”

Kip and Eliot nodded as she walked away.

“She’s seems okay,” Kip said observantly.

“She is.”

“But you’re not,” Kip told him.

Eliot gave him a questioning glance. “How did you—“

“You look like a man on fire, hoss,” Kip said with a sympathetic grin.

“I was asleep,” Eliot said with a shake of his head. “While she was being attacked I was sleeping in. I never sleep in and the one time that I do—“

“This didn’t happen because you slept in, tough guy,” Kip said with a chuckle. “Don’t give yourself that much credit.”

_“Listen to the man, Eliot.”_

Eliot really needed Hardison out of his ear.

* * *

 

Eliot had a to-go order ready when Parker walked through the door right as the restaurant opened. She and Claire did a hand off of the food in exchange for the new earpiece. Not even ten minutes after that the dining area was full and there was a queue for to go order pick ups. Claire and Kip seemed to think it had less to do with the food and more to do with the town wanting to stick it to Henderson.

But by the time the dinner rush came around it seemed to be more about the food. Nate and Sophie were relaying how pissed Henderson was and Parker was telling them that the buzz among the Festival staff was that the barbecue was better than anything the town had had in months.

The line for both here and to go orders stretched down the block by the time the dinner rush was in full swing.

“This is insane,” Claire told Eliot as she packed up another to-go order and then ladled the signature sauce in a small to go cup.

“You’d think these people had never had North Carolina Barbecue before,” Eliot said with a smirk.

“Not in nearly a year, we haven’t,” the customer Claire was ringing up told them both. “Thanks for bringing this place back. We missed it.”

The customer left without giving them a chance to speak but both Claire and Eliot exchanged a knowing glance. If they hadn’t pissed Henderson off enough already then this would definitely do it.

“We got a problem,” Kip said urgently as he came into the dining area from the kitchen.

“Please tell me there’s no fire,” Claire said with a huff.

Kip laughed. “No, it’s not the restaurant. Caitlyn backed out of her set on the main stage.”

Claire’s eyes widened. “She’s the 8:00 o’clock set.”

“They want me to fill in,” Kip told her.

“Good! It’s about time you took the stage,” Claire said with a smirk. “You write enough and produce enough and, lord knows, you’re rich enough. This should be cake.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Eliot asked in confusion.

“Kip, here, is an award winning song writer and producer. Spends half the year in Nashville and half here,” Claire answered. “He’s been asked to play the main set tonight and he’s chicken.”

“I’m not chicken,” Kip said with a roll of his eyes.

“Prove it,” Claire challenged.

“Fine, but only if you’re up there with me,” Kip told her.

Claire looked genuinely startled. “What? Me? Why?”

“Now who’s chicken?” Kip asked her with a challenging grin.

“I’m not. I’m just…I haven’t performed in a long time, Kip,” she said with a sigh.

“And I haven’t since I got my first publishing deal like 8 years ago,” he told her. “We’re on a level playing field here, Red. You perform, I perform. Otherwise, I’m out.”

“That’s blackmail,” Claire said with a playful glare.

“Yes, it is. Is it working?” Kip asked with a chuckle.

“Fine,” Claire said with a huff. “You win. I’ll perform with you.”

“Good,” Kip said as he nudged her shoulder. “We have an hour to come up with a set list.”

“Yeah, this isn’t a horrible tragic idea at all,” Claire said sarcastically as Kip went back to start cleaning the kitchen. Claire let the last few customer’s in and then locked the door behind them.

“You’ll be fine,” Eliot said with a small encouraging grin. “You know you will be.”

“No, I don’t, Spencer,” Claire told him. “I haven’t sung on a big stage in, _god_ , nine years. That’s too long.”

They both had to get back to work so the subject was temporarily dropped. For the rest of the night Claire could be caught humming various songs on and off. Eliot assumed she was trying to put together a set list. When they finally got everyone out of the restaurant, she and Kip had twenty minutes to finalize the list and rush toward the grandstand stage. Eliot quickly finished cleaning and counting the register and then headed toward the Grandstand himself to watch.

He got there just in time to hear their introduction and see them take the stage. He glanced around the crowd and found Henderson toward the back of the crowd. Again, Eliot did not like the look he had focused on Claire. It was predatory.

Claire saw him too. He could tell by the slight way she tensed. As quick as it happened she relaxed and her gaze focused on his. She smirked and winked at Henderson with a defiant glance.

“Alright, guys, Kip and I are filling in for Caitlyn tonight so you’ll have to forgive us if you hear a bunch of covers. We’re gonna make sure y’all have a good time, though. I have no doubt you can all sing along to each and every one of these songs,” Claire said as she glanced around the crowd. “Our first song tonight, is very special to me. To all you women out there, you ever wanted a song that made you feel like you could kick ass and take names? Well, this is that song for me because I can assure you folks, you ain’t seen me crazy yet,” Claire said with as she through another wink at Henderson. The crowd cheered as the intro started. “This is Miranda Lambert’s _Gunpowder and Lead_ , enjoy.”

_“County road two thirty-three under my feet_   
_Nothin' on this white rock but little ol' me_   
_I've got two miles till he makes bail_   
_And if I'm right, we're headed straight for hell_

_I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun_   
_Wait by the door, and light a cigarette_   
_If he wants a fight, well, now he's got one_   
_And he ain't seen me crazy yet_   
_He slapped my face, and he shook me like a rag doll_   
_Don't that sound like a real man?_   
_I'm going to show him what little girls are made of_   
_Gunpowder and lead._

_Well, it's half past ten, another six-pack in_   
_And I can feel the rumble like the cold black wind_   
_He pulls in the drive, the gravel flies_   
_He don't know what's waiting here this time_

_Yeah, I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun_   
_Wait by the door, and light a cigarette_   
_If he wants a fight, well, now he's got one_   
_And he ain't seen me crazy yet_   
_He slapped my face, and he shook me like a rag doll_   
_Don't that sound like a real man?_   
_I'm going to show him what little girls are made of_   
_Gunpowder and lead_

_His fist is big, but my gun's bigger_   
_He'll find out when I pull the trigger.”_

Eliot smirked proudly. He had to hand it to Claire, she was the bravest shit kicker he’d ever known. Eliot found Henderson in the crowd again and he could honestly say he’d never seen any man’s face look quite so red. There was a large, rough looking man, standing next to Henderson and Eliot kept an eye on him as Henderson gave him an order and the larger man walked away.

Eliot pressed his comm to turn it on. “Nate, something’s going down. Henderson just ordered his man away.”

“Follow him,” Nate ordered. “We’ll keep an eye on Claire.”

Eliot nodded. “On it.”

Eliot followed the man all the way to their restaurant.

“Hardison, call the cops,” Eliot demanded. “This guy’s up to no good.”

 _“On their way,”_ Hardison answered.

The man had a brick in one hand and was set to throw it through their window when Eliot appeared and blocked his arm to prevent his throw.

“Not on my watch, Bubba,” Eliot said as he punched the larger man in the stomach. He hit him hard in the solar plexus. The man crumpled to the ground the brick fell with a clatter. There was a crash from the back alley and Eliot quickly ran around to find another large man trying to smash the lock on the back door.

“Come on, man,” Eliot said with a huff. “That’s a metal door and metal lock. You’re not gonna force it open with a rock. You should have gone around front to help your buddy.”

The man immediately dropped the large rock and hopped in the truck he’d come in. Eliot raced forward and opened the driver’s side door before it could be locked. He pulled the man out and slammed him onto the concrete.

“Who hired you, man?” Eliot asked as sirens could be heard in the distance.

“No one. Just a concerned citizen,” the guy said with a chuckle.

“Nah, you’re just a guy who got caught trespassing and breaking and entering,” Eliot told him.

“Yeah, I guess you’d better be glad you caught me and not your wife, huh?” the man asked. “Not sure she could take much more of a beating, though I’d be happy to try.”

Eliot’s jaw tensed and he felt his teeth grinding.

 _“Eliot, he’s just trying to rile you up, man. Let it go,”_ Hardison urged him over comms.

Eliot glared at the man and punched him across the jaw as hard as he could…twice. _Just in case._

“Hardison, keep eyes on Claire,” Eliot told him. “Do _not_ let her out of your sight.”

 _“Already on it,”_ Hardison told him.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Confrontation

 

The next morning Hardison finally had enough of a break from the Henderson job to continue his research on Latimer. Currently, he was following the money. He’d told Nate he’d found a suspicious wire transfer leaving Jack Latimer’s account and going overseas. He didn’t know who the overseas account belonged to. The IDs were faked. Not nearly as good as his own work but better than he thought Latimer would know to obtain. It was safe to assume the account wasn’t Latimer’s.

Nate told him to trace it back. It got a little tricky at times as the amount changed every year or so as did the account the funds were transferred to. After tracking the money obsessively over the years he’d finally reached, what he thought had to be, a break. In the mid 1990s the deposit was going to an American bank account. Just a quick scan told him the deposit didn’t start in 1995, that was just the last year it went to a US account. He was amazed at how long this transaction had been going on. He found the account and routing number for the US account and looked it up. It had long been closed but it wouldn’t take much to find the owner on the account…

He froze when the name appeared before him. His hand stilled over the wireless mouse attached to his laptop and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Was it a coincidence? Could someone else have that name? Live in this town?

“What. The. Hell.”

He pulled out his book bag and dropped the piles of folders on the bed next to him. He knew he had it in here. He flipped through the folders until he found the one he wanted. He had several profiles started on people the team had come into contact with. He opened the folder and flipped to the first page.

_Name: Claire Rosemary Lanier._

_Born: August 22nd, 1984_

_Parents: Veronica Jo Lanier (Mother), Father unknown_

There it was. The name he was looking for.

Veronica Jo Lanier. The transactions he’d found in 1995 were sent to an account in her name at a local bank. Lexington State Bank. Latimer was sending money to Claire’s mother? Why and for how long? Hardison tapped his comm to turn it off and then called Nate. He didn’t answer. No surprise considering how late he and Sophie had been out with Henderson the previous night. He left a vague voicemail for Nate to call him back and made it clear he needed him off of comms.

While he waited for Nate to call him back he continued his research. He should have recognized the earlier aliases. The foreign account that followed the US account had names that were similar to the aliases Veronica Lanier had used for her and Claire in Texas. He’d found that last bit of information during Claire’s most recent absence. Everyone else in this town believed Veronica had taken Claire to L.A. to pursue superstardom, but that had not been the case. The only explanation he had for missing it was that he was tired. Very tired. 

Upon giving it all a second look, it seemed the money followed Veronica Lanier where ever she went until she fell off the grid around the end of 1996. But this trail meant, he could find her again. Veronica Lanier was no longer off the grid. This one clue had put her back in Hardison’s reach. He set aside tracing Veronica form 1996 onward and went back to tracing back Latimer’s deposits into her account. He needed to know when they began. Finally, he found the first deposit.

It occurred in 1984 just five months before Claire was born. Hardison was a smart guy. It didn’t take him long to put two and two together.

“Holy shit,” he muttered to himself just before his phone rang. He glanced at the screen and recognized Nate’s number. An impatient Nate answered in a huff.

“What is it, Hardison?”

Impatient Nate didn’t faze Hardison anymore. He continued as if he didn’t notice. “You are never going to believe what I just found.”

* * *

 

Later that morning they all met up at the cottage Eliot and Claire were staying in. Claire immediately noticed Hardison couldn’t look her in the eye. That was odd. Eliot gave him a strange glance so Claire knew he’d noticed too.

“Anybody come back to vandalize the restaurant last night?” Nate asked Eliot.

“No, I think Henderson knew better than to try twice in one night,” Eliot answered.

“Henderson left me a livid voicemail last night,” Sophie told them as she handed Hardiosn her phone so he could transfer the message. “Was the song and the wink really necessary, Claire?”

Sophie gave her a pointed disapproving glance but Claire merely smirked proudly in response. “Absolutely.” Parker grinned at her and held out her fist for a fist bump. Claire obliged with an amused expression.

“No, this is good,” Nate said suddenly. “He’s angry. He’s more likely to make a mis-step.” He smirked just as Claire had a moment ago. “This will work, Hardison—“

“Huh? What?” Hardison asked in a panic. “I don’t know anything. Nothing at all.”

Eliot smacked him upside the head, lightly. “What the hell is wrong with you, man? Pay attention.”

Nate gave him a meaningful glance. “Focus, Hardison.” Claire tried not to furrow her brow. There was a hidden meaning there. Sophie shifted slightly and Claire knew she’d seen it too.

“Right, my bad,” Hardison said as he cleared his throat nervously.

“The men from last night, can we connect them to Henderson?’ Nate asked the young man.

“Not in any way that will hold up in court,” Hardison answered.

“Okay, so we get him to skip the middle man,” Nate announced. “Claire, you push his buttons like no one else. Do you think you could make him so furious that he would act on that _himself_?”

Claire chuckled and thought, not for the first time, how much these people had to learn aabout her. “Pissing off power tripping assholes is my specialty.”

Eliot grinned and shook his head at her.

“Good, let’s use that,” Nate said thoughtfully. “What’s the best way to escalate our situation?”

“Well, he encroached on our space,” Claire said with an eager smile. “Let’s return the favor. Hardison, in all those marketing materials you had printed up, you wouldn’t happen to have any fliers, would you?”

“Got a box of about 500 ready to go,” he answered. 

“Perfect. Let’s go launch a ground marketing campaign,” Claire told the group as she rolled up her sleeves and placed a hat with the restaurant’s logo on her head.

She looked ready for things to get serious.

* * *

 

“You sure this is a good idea?” Eliot asked as he parked in the public lot across from Henderson’s restaurant.

“No,” Claire answered with a grin. “But I think it’s gonna be fun.”

“You would,” Eliot said with a chuckle and dry smirk.

“Okay,” she said as she grabbed a stack of fliers and straightened her hat. “According to Hardison’s map, that tiny corner next to his restaurant sign is public property so I can stand there, pass out flyers, and not be trespassing.”

“Turn on your comm. I’m gonna keep my eye on you but I’d like to hear too. Just in case,” he told her sternly.

She smiled and nodded before kissing him soundly on the mouth. She pulled away like it was nothing, tapped her comm to turn it on, and then practically skipped across the street. Yeah, she was enjoying this far too much.

Nate had pulled Parker aside for something as they left so he had a feeling he and Claire were the distraction for whatever Parker’s portion of the plan was. Claire immediately got to work handing out fliers and talking to Henderson’s customers. He quirked a brow as she flirted with a group of young college age men who passed by. To get their attention she barely had to do anything more than flip her hair to have the young men totally in her sway. She continued like that and won over everyone she spoke to, both men and women. A handful even went back to their cars and then drove off in the direction of their restaurant a few blocks away.

God, she was impressive.

It only took a few more minutes for a pair of pretty hostesses to approach her. She showed them the map Hardison had given her and smiled her most non-threatening Southern farm girl smile. He’d seen her use it before. It was powerful. Barely five minuntes after they’d approached they headed back toward the restaurant with a friendly wave.

Another few minutes passed, resulting in even more customers leaving at Claire’s advice. This time, two men, who were much more intimidating than the hostesses, came out to talk to her. But Claire charmed them anyway. She smiled and batted her eyelashes and repeatedly ran her hands through her hair. Once she even adjusted her shirt as if her bra was bothering her. Both sets of eyes instinctually moved downward to her chest and Eliot rolled his eyes. She knew her assets and she used them well. It occurred to him that he should be bothered by watching her flirt so obviously with other men. But he wasn’t. Not in the slightest.

He realized then that despite his worries she wouldn’t come back to him one day, he wasn’t afraid she’d choose someone else over him. He was confident in her feelings for him and her regard for him. He didn’t doubt it. He was surprised by that revelation. He’d spent his life since becoming whatever he was now believing he wasn’t worthy of something serious or important so he’d jumped from date to date and never bothered to stick around for very long. He wasn’t doing that now. Things were different with Claire. For once, he was ready for the next step before his partner. Not only that, be he was confident in who she’d be going home with at the end of the day. So confident that watching her flirt with other men merely amused and impressed him. No man could resist, Claire, and he couldn’t blame them one bit.

The two larger men waved at her dismissively when she started to step away from her spot by the sign. They were telling her not to worry about it. He could tell based on their body language. They then turned and headed back into the restaurant. That shouldn’t have worked, but oddly enough it did. He really should have brought along some popcorn. Watching Claire work was better than a movie any day.

The next person to leave the restaurant caused every muscle in Eliot’s body to tense. He sat forward in his seat to watch Claire and Henderson more carefully than he had the others. He had one hand on the door handle, prepared to run to her if he had to.

* * *

 

“Just the man I’ve been waiting for,” Claire said with a bright smile as Henderson approached. “You really should have just saved me the effort and come out first.”

“You’re on private property, Mrs. Chapel,” Henderson said with a forced politeness.

“Actually, I’m not,” she said as she held out the map. “This little three foot plot is public property I can be here all I want.”

“You’re being disruptive to my business. I wonder what the deputies would have to say about that?” He asked with a smarmy grin.

“Oh yes, do call them, I’m curious too,” She said as she took of Eliot’s borrowed hoodie and tied it around her waist, displaying her bruised left arm and her right stitched up arm. “I wonder what they would say if I told them who gave me this bruise? And what their reaction would be when the size of it matched your hand exactly? Let’s find out. What do you think?” She asked as she pulled out her phone and started to dial 9-1-1.

Henderson reached out and grabbed her wrist. His hand was touching the same spot Eliot’s had just the day before when he’d unnecessarily checked her pulse. Eliot’s hand on her wrist was a lot gentler than Henderson’s hand on her wrist. The pressure he applied was uncomfortable but it didn’t hurt. Even if it did, she knew better than to react. Reacting gave him power. Nothing pissed off men like Henderson more than withholding power they thought they deserved. She gave him a cool glance and smirked. “So that’s a no to the deputies, then?” She asked.

She heard a car door a few feet away. Customers, she thought as she remembered they were standing in front of his restaurant’s parking lot. She’d let her awareness of their location slip when he approached. Her focus on watching his reactions took precedent. She nodded toward the approaching foot steps. “You should let go of me if you don’t want your customers alerted to your _true_ nature, Mr. Henderson. I’m sure you’re aware, but there’s nothing more powerful than the scream of an innocent woman. I’m sure you hear them all the time in the privacy of your own home.”

Until now she’d only heard Eliot chuckling through the comm which had been reassuring and strangely empowering, especially when flirting with other men. The fact that her ability to successfully seduce and flirt didn’t bother Eliot in the least was part of his appeal. But now he was alternating between silence and a wince here and there. He knew she was supposed to push him over the edge but every insult she hurled at Henderson, every taunt, caused Eliot to wince in her ear. He was paying close attention and waiting for his moment to attack, she knew.

Henderson scoffed and released her. “You really are infuriating. The most irreverent, disrespectful _female_ I have ever met,” he spat as if the words burned his tongue. “It’s a shame that husband of yours will never break you like you deserve.”

There was complete silence from Eliot, but if it was possible she could _hear_ his muscles tense through the comms. She knew it wasn’t but she knew Eliot and she knew how that line would effect him. But it didn’t bother Claire. Not in the least. It was not, by a long shot, the most insulting thing a man had ever said to her.

She laughed. “Many have tried to break me, meaner bastards than you even, but none of them ever did. You would never even come _close_ to breaking me. You’re pathetic compared to other men I’ve met. Yet you foolishly believe you’re so powerful. It’s sad, really.”

His hand curled into a fist and he inched closer to her. “Watch your mouth, woman,” he said slowly. For a brief moment the rage in his eyes startled her. But that moment was gone quickly and in it’s place was encouragement. He was teetering on the edge of totally losing it. He need one final shove.

She chuckled and placed her hands on her hips. She visibly relaxed her muscles as much as her body and her emotions would allow. He could not know that he worried her. He needed to feel as though his physically intimidating presence barely registered with her. She lowered her voice and purposefully put on her thickest southern drawl. “Sugar darlin, are people actually threatened by all this peacocking you do?” Her tone was patronizing as she continued with a wide grin and an amused expression. “Well, bless your _little_ heart,” She said as she briefly glanced down to his pelvis. Implying something she knew would crawl under his skin and cause a reaction he couldn’t control.

She heard Eliot curse, he knew what was coming just as much as she did. He also knew she’d purposefully provoked it. Claire heard two more car doors close behind her and smiled triumphantly just as Henderson raised his flattened hand and backhanded her across the face.

 _God damn, that hurt_ , she cursed inwardly as the force of his slap turned her head and nearly spun her around. She touched the side of her face and wiped the blood from her lip.

A few feet away and gasp and startled cry could be heard and Claire knew it was the customers Henderson hadn’t been paying any attention to. He’d seen red and couldn’t hold back.

“John, call the police!” The older woman yelled as she glared at Henderson.

Henderson’s eyes widened as he realized what he’d done and just where he’d done it. He turned to try and initiate a bit of damage control but it was clear the elderly couple wasn’t going to believe anything he said to them. It was too late. The woman’s husband, apparently named John, dialed 9-1-1 as Claire had threatened to do earlier. Henderson took a step toward the couple but Eliot appeared out of no where. His breathing was labored and she had a feeling he’d run across the street.

“You,” Eliot sneered at Henderson as he stood between him and the couple. “Stay right where you are.”

“Are you okay, sugar?” The woman asked in gentle concern.

Claire put on her best shocked and wounded expression and forced tears to well up in her eyes, but didn’t respond verbally.

“Oh, you poor thing,” the woman said as she walked to Claire and wrapped her arms around her protectively. “Don’t you worry about a thing, he won’t go near you anymore.” The woman’s glare turned on Henderson and her tone sharpened. “You should be ashamed of yourself, you pig!”

Eliot made his way to Claire other side and the woman passed her over to him. Eliot placed a hand under her chin and turned her face from side to side to get a look at her. His eyes were a storm of emotions. There was anger, concern, relief, and frustration and those were just the emotions that regarded _her_. He was furious with her. She knew that. She expected that. For the sake of her compassionate witnesses Claire began to sob. Eliot played along. He knew she wasn’t bothered by the slap and that, she was certain, was part of the frustration she’d read in his eyes.

Crocodile tears were the first thing her mother taught her to do extremely well. _“A crying woman is the ultimate weakness for any mark,”_ she’d said. She had issues with her mother but she’d been right about that at the very least.

Henderson glared at her but kept his mouth shut as sirens wailed in the distance.

Though Eliot may not be happy with her, Nate seemed proud and pleased.

 _“Job well done, Claire. Very impressive,”_ Nate said over comms. Eliot tensed as he held her and she knew Nate’s approval angered him even more.

Sure the slap had hurt and she’d lucked out with the witnesses, but in her mind the end justified the means. She’d rattled him. He’d lost his cool façade. It was a victory and it felt amazing.

 _“Now,”_ Nate said with a delighted tone. _“We finish him off_.”

 


	13. Chapter Twelve: Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliot is not happy with Claire and Henderson loses it.

 

“What the hell were you thinking?” Eliot asked her in a raised voice once they were back in her truck and on their way home. She’d never heard him yell until now. It made her wince.

They’d stayed for the cops and made their statements as had the elderly couple. Henderson had been taken away in handcuffs but he wouldn’t be held for long. He’d already been demanding his lawyer as the deputy had placed him in the back seat.

“I was thinking that getting him to act out would make him more eager to take matters into his own hands,” Claire explained. “We push him to betray himself to the people in town and he gets so unreasonably furious that he can’t stand the thought of hiring someone else to run us out of town. It’s _personal_ now for him, Eliot. That was what I was supposed to do, wasn’t it? Push his buttons.”

They’d both turned their comms off after they’d gotten into the truck and Claire was glad for that.

“Yes, push his buttons not incite violence. Do you realize what could have happened if that couple hadn’t been there? There was no one else in the parking lot and I was across the street. If they hadn’t been there to stop him at one slap, Lanier, he could have killed you. As a man with a few anger issues myself, I recognized the body language. He was prepared to keep going. The slap was just the beginning!” Eliot yelled with a shake of his head. “That whole interaction was reckless and I knew it would be. I should have gone with you.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. Because you would have been the one beating _him_ had you done that, Spencer. You’d be the one in handcuffs right now. The way he spoke to me would have provoked you into action. We both know it,” Claire said with a sigh.

“Is this how you were on that mysterious job with Shelley? Did you throw yourself into the fight with him too?” Eliot asked as he avoided looking at her. He didn’t acknowledge she was right. He didn’t need to.

“Shelley, trusts my opinions on what I can and can’t handle unlike _some people_ ,” she muttered in an irritated tone. “You know, you were right across the street, Eliot. I knew that. You were watching and waiting. You were on your way over as soon as that slap started. If that couple hadn’t walked up I would have been fine. I knew you had my back. You were there impossibly fast as it was anyway.”

“Yeah, but Claire, we don’t work together all the time,” he said in a softer voice. “I’m worried this had nothing to do with you knowing I was across the street, that I had your back. I’m worried that you did that for the rush, for the win, and if that’s the case—what happens when you’re on your next job and your risk for the victory backfires? What happens if Shelley can’t get to you in time?”

“What happens if you’re not there?” She asked him knowingly.

“I know, you want to do this on your own and you don’t want me become too involved but, darlin, when you do things like this it terrifies me,” he admitted. “I know you well enough to anticipate when you might do it, but Tara and Shelley…I’m not trying to be over protective and control you when I worry like this. You know that, don’t you? You’re impulsive, and competitive, and _damn it_ if you don’t get joy out of ticking people off and while I admire those things about you a majority of the time the rest of the time they scare me to death. You promised me you’d come back to me and I just want to make sure you can keep that promise. Does that make sense?” He asked with a furrowed brow as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. Emotions and urges like this were foreign to him. They weren’t once upon a time, when he was a kid. But after years of inflicting violence and pain, concern on this level was practically brand new. He worried about his crew, yes, but the worry he felt for Claire was almost too much.

They were almost back to the cottage and the roads had become less populated two lane roads with farmland on either side. Silence fell over them and he thought that would be the end of the conversation. Until Claire spoke up softly.

“Pull over,” she told him.

“What?” He asked. He wasn’t quite sure he heard her correctly.

“Pull over,” she repeated. He gave her a questioning glance but did as she asked and pulled over into the field to his right.

He parked the car and started to ask Claire just what she was doing when suddenly she was straddling him. It couldn’t have been comfortable, he thought, but she was doing it. She kissed him deeply and slowly but it wasn’t a kiss of need or passion and it wasn’t one that was going to go much further. But he could feel her remorse in it. He could feel her own concern for him and even more than that, he could feel how deeply she cared about him. It seemed impossible but there it was. One kiss became two and then three and he sunk into it and let his hands rest on her hips. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she had leaned most of her weight against him. His hands then moved from her waist to her thighs, that were mostly bare thanks to the tiny sorts she’d put on that morning. And then her hands moved to cup the sides of his face. Finally, she pulled away and met his eyes.

“You’re right,” she admitted. “I went too far. I know I did. But I don’t think you really understand…violence has been a part of my life since mom and I left this town. Abuse in almost every form found me constantly. I’d come close to escaping it but I never really would. It sought me out. Moreau broke bones, you know that, but he wasn’t the first. In all of those cases, it damaged me permanently. It caused pain and hurt and—“ she stopped talking to blink back tears that had pooled in her eyes. “It made me selfish and callous and weak. This was all before Moreau even touched me, before you. It’s the last thing I would ever want anyone else to experience. I wouldn’t wish any of my scarring on another person. I adapted, yes. I internalized and used it. But not every one can do that. Not everyone can let themselves become someone else to escape it.”

“You don’t have to live with that anymore,” Eliot told her. Thinking maybe she believed the violence had become a part of her the way he did.

“If my living with it, prevents someone else from being scarred by it then yes, I do. I’d rather take a beating for the purpose of exposing the truth than risk an innocent person taking that beating instead. If I can take on the pain for those who don’t deserve it then I will,” she told him. “I’m used to it. I have a tolerance. Someone else might not. So, while I know it drives you crazy and I know it causes you to worry it’s probably not going to stop. I have these scars already, Eliot. I might as well use them. If that’s too much for you, then I get it. I really do. When I came back to Boston that one weekend to the sight of you so thoroughly beaten I felt like I’m sure you do now. I didn’t want to leave you. I didn’t want you out of my sight and for a brief time I resented your crew for letting that happen. While I was here and you were with them I worried all the time, it’s why I didn’t contact you as much as you probably wanted. The less I knew about your jobs, the better. My imagination would run wild anytime you talked about it.”

She was right, he hadn’t understood. She removed her hands from his face and placed them on his chest. She placed both just over his heart and then smiled warmly at him.

“I love you, Eliot, you’re the only person, other than my uncle and grandparents, who’s ever made me feel that I’m more, that I’m a person and not property and that my value doesn’t lie in how attractive I am. You make me feel like it matters who _I_ want to be. You make me feel…cared for and, as much as I complain about it, protected. Without you, I really don’t know what I would do. If you’re feeling any tiny bit of that right now then I understand and I’m sorry if I scared you. I just want to make sure that when we take this guy down, _he stays down_.” Those last three words had been said with such fire and determination that Eliot had a feeling it was more of a promise than a statement. Her eyes were still watery with unshed tears and he felt her breathing heavier than normal. Both signs that she was barely holding back her sadness and desperation. He could hear it in the emotion in her voice, she was begging him to understand.

And now that she explained herself, he found he did.

Eliot brought a hand to her cheek and gently caressed the side of her face that had been hit twice in one week before he spoke. “

You know, it’s funny, we have completely different jobs and yet we seem to approach them the exact same way.” His voice was gentle and quiet, the opposite of how this conversation had started. “I’m the guy that protects my crew because I know how to take the beatings. I know how to give ‘em, ain’t no body questioning that, but if it comes to it I’m the one that takes the punches and the bullets because I know _how_. I’ve done it for so long that it barely fazes me anymore. The others, they’re not as accustomed to that as I am and I don’t want them to be. I don’t want them to be so familiar with pain that they can break a rib or two and keep on going. The best way to prevent that is for me to take the blows myself. It’s what I do. Yeah, you’re a grifter and I’m a hitter, but in that respect we’re the same, you and me. I didn’t realize that until just now. Not until you told me. I can’t say I’m crazy about it. I want you safe and whole and to keep you around as long as I can, but I understand it now. It’s not as frustrating or as frightening as it was earlier today. I’m probably still going to be aggravated anytime you do it, _but I do understand_. I don’t like it, but I think I can live with it.”

She smiled slowly and then leaned in for another long kiss. This one communicated relief and hope and all the things he knew she hadn’t had much of in recent years. Or maybe ever, based on what he knew of her past so far. When she pulled back she rested her forehead against his. “If you can live with that then I guess I can live with you being _a bit_ protective. It’s actually really hot sometimes.”

“Yeah?” He asked with an amused grin.

“Do not let that go to your head, Cowboy. The keyword is _sometimes_ ,” she said with a chuckle.

He smirked and gently pushed her hair off of her shoulders. “Got it. I love you too,” he said as he realized he never said it back to her earlier. “By the way.”

She beamed at him and then kissed him again, more briefly this time. “Well, that’s a relief,” she said with a teasing wink. She moved off of his lap and back to her seat and he found that he missed her. She was right there next to him but he had been quite comfortable with her so completely taking up his space.

“We should go,” she told him. “We need to be back in town for the Festival tonight.”

Just like that, the day moved on. He pulled back on to the road and when they reached the cottage Claire sprinted for the shower, stating she needed to get any trace of Henderson off of her as quickly as possible. He didn’t blame her for that.

An hour later they were both cleaned up and ready for the Festival when a crash and a scream could be heard outside. Claire was immediately alert.

“That came from the main house,” she said just before she sprinted out the cottage door and across the yard. He tore out after her but Claire was highly motivated and, he had to admit, he had a hard time keeping up. Once they reached house a feeling of urgency set in. What they were seeing was unmistakable. The sun had started to set but neither of them could mistake the orange glow from inside Claire’s childhood home. Fire. They approached just in time to find Henderson standing over Ada and the kids with a gun in his hand.

Eliot knew he was protective and he’d seen Claire be defensive before but nothing he knew of her prepared him for the look on her face when she realized Henderson had a gun on her family.

“Oh _fuck no_ ,” she muttered as the flames from the house reflected in her eyes. Though, Eliot admitted, he wasn’t sure he’d actually seen a reflection. It might have just been pure rage burning it’s way through her. She took a few steps toward the house out of pure instinct. Eliot quickly grabbed her arm as gently as he could.

“Claire, stop and think for a minute. You rush in there now, he’ll shoot you.” Eliot said softly as he tapped his comm and turned it on. “Nate, we got a problem.”

 _“Let me guess, Henderson’s there?”_ Nate asked knowingly. _“We’re on our way. Stall him.”_

“I’ve got an idea,” Eliot told her. “You go around the back of the house. The kitchen is through the back door, right?”

She nodded. “Fire extinguisher is under the sink.” How she’d known what he was thinking he’d never know.

“Good, you go around the back, put out the flames. I’ll get him away from your aunt and the kids,” Eliot told her. The flames appeared to be in the living room, just behind a broken window. If Eliot had to guess, Henderson had thrown a Molotov Cocktail through the front window.

Claire caught his gaze and kissed him quickly. “Be careful,” she told him just before she quietly took off around the back of the house.

Eliot tried to take in the details of the situation. Ada was standing in front of both children and Henderson’s gun was aimed at her. Not the kids. Everette was no where to be found and Eliot thought he recalled him being needed at the store while the insurance people assessed the damage from yesterday’s fire.

Henderson had his back to the front steps, and Eliot stepped softly. Henderson was breathing so loudly that it gave Eliot some extra cover for any noise he might have made. When he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around Henderson from behind and threw him to the ground. The gun was knocked out of his hand and bounced a few feet away. Henderson attempted to wrestle himself free of Eliot but while the man may have had a strong backhanded slap, he certainly wasn’t any where close to a match for Eliot. Eliot got him into a choke hold after Henderson had tried his best to gauge out Eliot’s eyes. Eliot continued the pressure, just enough to knock the man unconscious, until he went limp in his arms. Eliot left Henderson where he’d dropped and then disarmed the gun before placing it on the porch railing.

The fire in the living room dimmed and Eliot could hear the faint sounds of a fire extinguisher from inside the house. He ran to Ada and the kids to check on them. All were fine physically but otherwise distraught. Ada collapsed against Eliot in a fit of tears and he leaned against the house and simply held her. He didn’t know the woman well but she’d just been through more than any person should. She’d been strong for her children but now that they were out of danger she couldn’t keep it together. The front door opened and Claire stepped out.

Her young cousins ran to her and she wasted no time scooping both of them up and retreating to the swing on the far end of the porch. Her eyes met Eliot’s with clear relief and gratitude shining in them. He was alive and safe and so was her family. Siren’s wailed in the distance for the second time that day and within minutes two squad cars and Lucille were racing down the gravel drive.

Before Lucille had even fully stopped Everette had jumped out and was sprinting toward the porch. He ran straight to Eliot and Ada. Eliot assured him everyone was fine and passed Ada over to her husband, who eagerly wrapped his arms around her and then kissed the top of her head. He caught Eliot’s eye and mouthed the words “Thank you.” Eliot nodded and then made his way down the steps to meet the officers just arriving on the scene. He directed one to Henderson and advised they cuff him right away and then described exactly what he and Claire had discovered when they approached the house.

Once they were done with Eliot, Nate, Sophie, Parker, and Hardison approached him.

“Everyone okay?” Nate asked.

“Physically, yes,” Eliot said with a sigh. “Not sure otherwise. Was this the plan?” Eliot asked Nate with a glare. He was still irritated at his approval of Claire’s actions earlier in the day. Nate didn’t realize it, really, but his approval had a lot of power.

“No, honestly, it wasn’t,” Nate assured him. “I really just thought he’d show up and try to manhandle Claire, obviously with you over her shoulder to keep it from getting out of hand, he’d get arrested, they’d search his vehicle and he’d go away for a very long time.”

“Search his vehicle?” Eliot asked.

Parker nodded. “While you guys distracted him outside of the restaurant I found Henderson’s fake financial records in the safe in his office.”

“And you planted those in the car?” Eliot asked.

“Not just the financials,” Sophie added with a smirk.

“I may have also snuck his wife and daughter’s medical records out of the hospital and placed those in his backseat,” Parker admitted with a grin. “Maybe. I put them in a pile of documents marked ‘shred’ and I’m pretty sure hospital records are supposed to be confidential and probably not stolen and destroyed.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t think so,” Hardison said as he fist bumped Parker. “Excellent.”

“Yeah, well, he hit my sister,” Parker said in a dark tone as she glared at Henderson’s still unconscious form. “Alice and Catherine are very close.”

None of them even bothered to remind her that Alice and Parker were one and the same. The fact that Parker cared that much about a person she didn’t really know very well was too remarkable to ruin.

Henderson groaned as he came to and he immediately spotted Nate and Sophie chatting with Eliot. Claire descended the steps and joined the group, since she’d handed her cousins off to their very grateful parents. Henderson took one look at his supposed business associates standing side by side with his business rivals and began screaming.

“You!” He yelled as he fought against the deputies that were now holding him back and leading him toward the squad car. “They did this! They played me! It was them!”

“Yeah, Mr. Henderson, whatever you say,” one of the deputies said as he rolled his eyes at the man. “We’ve got five witnesses that saw you aiming the gun at two children and their mother but _they_ did it. Get in the damn car.”

Claire smirked as the officer forced Henderson to duck his head and shoved him the backseat. He was still yelling and raving like a lunatic as the car pulled away. Now everyone saw what she saw. They knew exactly who he was and there was public proof to back it all up. She looked around at the group of thieves and grifters she’d somehow gotten mixed up in and took in the feelings coursing through her. As the police took Henderson away, she thought she _might_ understand why Eliot did what he did and why he’d chosen _these_ people for his family.

“Thank you,” Claire told them all as she leaned into Eliot’s side and he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “All of you. This means everything to me.”

“Anytime,” Nate told her with a smile and a nod. “It’s what we do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter concludes the job for the team but it is not the last chapter of the story.   
> I'm currently writing Chapter Sixteen right now so there is for sure more to come for Brave & Wild. It's looking like this story might total 18-20 chapters in all at the moment. So there is much more story to look forward to! Thanks for reading and enjoying it all so far!


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crew is still cleaning up what's left of Henderson's mess.

Chapter Thirteen: Freedom 

The next morning, Eliot and Nate met with Mr. Speedman and Kip one last time. They handed them the deed and the keys to Henderson’s much larger restaurant and officially turned Speedy’s Barbecue back over to the family that truly deserved it. Mr. Speedman was ecstatic and Kip was very grateful. His father’s health had been an issue since he lost the restaurant and Kip firmly believed his weakened health was a direct result of depression. They also gave Mr. Speedman a good percentage of a pay out Hardison had managed to snatch from Henderson’s accounts.

They also gave some of Henderson’s money to Claire’s family to help with their now damaged house and business. The rest they gave to Henderson’s wife and daughter to help them start a new life without their jailer. Claire had insisted on being present for that visit. It was good she was too, the little girl didn’t really understand what was going on and Claire had handled her perfectly. She knew just what to say to get through to the little girl who didn’t quite understand that her father had treated her any different than anyone else’s father. It was all she knew, so wasn’t it the same for everyone else? It was a question that had stumped Nate and given Eliot pause. He wasn’t quite sure how to address it. But Claire…Claire understood.

“This means, you only have to smile when you feel like it, little one,” Claire told her gently. “And you won’t have to cover up bruises anymore. In fact, the next time you get a bruise it’ll be because you fell on the playground or hit your funny bone.” Claire smiled and winked at the girl before she softly and playfully poked her side. The girl giggled and wiggled away. “It means, the only time you have to pretend to be someone else is when you’re in those pageants you’re so good at.”

The little girl beamed at her and then gave her mother a hesitant look. “Is that true, mommy?”

Mrs. Henderson sniffed and smiled warmly at her daughter. “Yes, baby.”

The little girl considered that for a moment and then threw herself at Claire with a huge hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

For someone who’d ever really been around children all that much, Eliot thought, she was extremely good at relating to them. The little girl had hugged Claire for the longest time before she and her mother left. As the pair walked away Claire turned with a bright watery smile and wrapped her arms around Eliot. He returned the hug and kissed the top of her head. She didn’t say anything but he knew that, of all of Henderson’s victims, his wife and daughter were the ones that had gotten under her skin the most. Helping them had taken a huge weight off of her shoulders. He could see how much lighter she felt.

But handing over the restaurant to Kip and his dad and finally putting Henderson away, meant there wasn’t much else for any of them to do except enjoy the first official day of the Festival.

Parker dragged Hardison off in the direction of the funnel cakes, Nate and Sophie went to go look at the handcrafted items for sale at various tents, and Eliot and Claire headed toward the grandstand for the music. To their surprise Kip was on stage and the minute he saw Claire approach he called her up to join him.

Claire headed toward the stage but this time she wasn’t content to let Eliot stand in the crowd. She made him stand under the tent with the sound equipment and the technicians. At least she hadn’t tried to make him play or sing with her, he thought with a sigh of relief. He was surprised that she and Kip actually performed a couple of original pieces. They’d written a handful of songs together before Eliot and his crew arrived. It turned out and both songs they played were amazing. When that was done, Claire and Eliot walked further down the street to the car show. Claire had saved that for last. All the muscle car buffs in the area brought their cars to show off at the far end of the festival. They parked in the local bank parking lot and stood by their cars, eager to brag.

Eliot had started detailed conversations with nearly every owner in the place. He smiled more in public than she’d seen in a while. He smiled at her quite frequently but with others she didn’t see much of his smile. So, she treasured it every time, even if she understood none of what he was saying. They’d spent nearly an hour and a half talking to the men at the car show. Eliot was practically giddy.

Claire chuckled as they walked down the Festival route hand in hand. “Having fun?” she asked.

“You didn’t tell me about the car show,” Eliot said as he craned his neck to look back at the cars one last time.

She laughed lightly at his awe before she spoke. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“This isn’t really what I expected from a Barbecue Festival,” Eliot told her honestly. “I mean yes, there’s barbecue but beyond that it’s more like…”

“A fair?” she asked knowingly.

“Yes! Exactly. There’s rides on the other end for the kids, hand crafted merchandise for sale, pottery, funnel cakes, and,” he stopped and glanced down at the guide he swiped earlier. “Am I reading this right? Pig races?”

“You read that right,” Claire told him. “They set up a course on the other end across from the rides. They number the pigs, and the pigs race through the course.”

“Okay, that clenches it, I love your home town,” Eliot admitted.

Claire laughed and sighed contentedly. “Me too. I’ve missed it.” She caught sight of her uncle and her aunt manning the sound equipment at the smaller stage, dubbed the “local stage” in the guide Eliot had, and pointed discretely. “I’ve missed my uncle too.” Everette and Ada kissed across the sound equipment, for no other reason than they wanted to, and Eliot had to admit her family seemed near perfect. “It’s going to be hard to leave,” she admitted. “Especially now that I know Ada and the kids.”

“Well,” Eliot said hesitantly. He knew offering this meant delaying her coming back to Boston with him. “Then give yourself a little more time with them. You don’t have to leave right away.”

“True, I guess. I’m just afraid to stay in one place for too long,” she said honestly. “I’m afraid of who or what might find me if I do, and I’ve been here for over a month as it is.”

“Well, what if I stay with you?” Eliot asked her. “Nate will give us a break for at least two weeks before the next job. I can stay here with you and you can show me more of the town. Plus, if anyone shows up who’s not supposed to be here then I’ll promptly show them the town line.”

She chuckled and released his hand to loop her arm through his. “I’d appreciate that, but…let me think about it,” she told him. “I’ll admit the idea is tempting.”

“You haven’t seen your family in years, Claire,” he said as he rested a hand on top of hers as it rested on the crook of his arm. “No one would blame you for wanting to spend as much time as possible with them.”

“I’m not worried about me,” she admitted. “I’m worried about them. I haven’t exactly been good luck for them so far.”

“That’s not true,” Eliot corrected her. “Without you, Henderson would still be running this town and he would eventually have put your uncle out of business. You showing up now was actually _very_ lucky.”

“I suppose,” she said reluctantly as she smiled softly at him and then rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. It struck him, suddenly, just how much they resembled a normal couple in this moment. He’d been allowed very little normalcy lately so this moment of quiet was really wonderful. It almost made him wish that this pretend life they’d built here, could be his reality.

As they passed the Local Stage, Everette took the microphone.

“Where you going, girl?” He called as he pointed to Claire in the crowd. She looked over at the stage and rolled her eyes.

“Am I supposed to be somewhere?” She yelled over the small crown surrounding the Local Stage.

“Yeah, up here, performing,” Everette answered.

She gave her uncle an exasperated look. “I didn’t sign up for a set.”

“You didn’t have to,” Everette told her. “I did, and I’m demanding that my niece come up here and play just _one_ of her songs. You performed two on the Grandstand with Kip. Just one here on the Local Stage should be easy after that.”

Claire realized he was right and she wouldn’t be getting out of it. She shook her head with an amused smile and then walked toward the stage. She took Eliot with her again and made him stand with Ava at the sound board.

Claire held out her hand to borrow Everette’s guitar and he immediately handed it over. She put the strap around her and then cleared her throat nervously as she stood behind the microphone.

“So, I do have this one song…” she told him.

The small crowd that had gathered clapped encouragingly.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been home and before I showed up on Uncle Ev’s door step about a month ago I worried that when I finally made it home, he wouldn’t be there,” she said as she started to introduce the song. “I imagined another family was living in the house I called home for so many years and making new memories. And then I imagined what I would say if I went home and someone else was living in my family’s house. Naturally, I had to turn it into a song. So, here we go, this song is called ‘House That Built Me’. Hope yall like it.”

Eliot saw Nate and Sophie join the crowd and then as the musical intro started Hardison and Parker appeared. Eliot then turned his attention back to Claire. The song was slow and haunting. How she managed to express that just by playing an acoustic guitar was a mystery to him.

_“I know they say you can't go home again._   
_I just had to come back one last time._   
_Ma'am, I know you don't know me from Adam._   
_But these hand prints on the front steps are mine._   
_Up those stairs, in that little back bedroom_   
_Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar._   
_And I bet you didn't know, under that live oak,_   
_My favorite dog is buried in the yard._

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it,_   
_This brokenness inside me might start healing._   
_Out here it's like I'm someone else,_   
_I thought that maybe I could find myself._   
_If I could just come in I swear I'll leave._   
_Won't take nothing but a memory_   
_From the house that built me._

_Grandma cut out pictures of houses for years._   
_From 'Better Homes and Garden' magazines._   
_Plans were drawn, and concrete poured,_   
_And nail by nail and board by board_   
_Grandpa gave life to Grandma's dream._

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it_   
_This brokenness inside me might start healing._   
_Out here it's like I'm someone else,_   
_I thought that maybe I could find myself._   
_If I could just come in I swear I'll leave._   
_Won't take nothing but a memory_   
_From the house that built me._

_You leave home, you move on and you do the best you can._   
_I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am._

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it_   
_This brokenness inside me might start healing._   
_Out here it's like I'm someone else,_   
_I thought that maybe I could find myself._   
_If I could walk around I swear I'll leave._   
_Won't take nothing but a memory_   
_From the house that, built me.”_

During the second verse, Claire’s voice broke just slightly. The emotions she sang in the song were raw and real and he could hear her pain when she sang about her grandparents that she’d never get to see again. Everette reached out and placed a hand on his niece’s shoulder for support as she continued the song. Eliot felt his throat tightening and a brief pain in his chest as he watched her. What was that? Sadness on her behalf? Pride that she’d managed to express it and express it so damn well? Or was it a wish to fix it all for her? A wish that he could bring back her grandparents just to give her some closure or a wish that seeing her home again might help her find the girl who got lost all those years ago? He decided it was all of it. He was feeling all of those things. More than that, he was blown away by her voice and her talent. The crowd in front of the stage had doubled since she’d started singing. People were drawn to her. Her voice was hypnotic and haunting and beautiful. There was so much soul and heartbreak in her tone. It was hard to ignore.

When the song was over the crowd roared. Including, Eliot noticed, Nate, Sophie, Parker and, surprisingly, Hardison. Claire bowed briefly before she handed the guitar back to her uncle and then made her way to Eliot.

“Now, that I have embarrassed myself,” she said with a self-deprecating grin. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You didn’t embarrass yourself,” Eliot assured her. “And where would we go?”

She pulled out her phone and showed Eliot a text from Kip. “Kip’s throwing a party out at his place. He just sent out a mass text. Looks like he invited everyone he knows.”

They descended the stage and Eliot led her toward his crew.

Claire smiled awkwardly at them. She wasn’t sure what to think of them hearing such an emotional performance from her.

Hardison cleared his throat and nodded in her direction. Careful not to show too much emotion. “You did good up there, Arm Candy.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Thanks. So,” she said as she addressed the group. “Any of you ever been to a small town throw down?”

“A what-what?” Sophie asked with a furrowed brow and a disgusted face.

Claire chuckled. “A party, country style.”

“No, I most certainly have not,” Sophie said with a smirk.

“Kip’s throwing one in about twenty minutes.” She held up her phone with her text messages displayed. “He told me to invite you guys.” Everyone but Eliot looked wary of the situation. Claire laughed and continued. “There’s free beer.”

“Oh, well why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” Hardison asked. “Where’s this party?”

“On Kip’s land. The back acreage where he has no neighbors,” Claire told them.

“It’s possible to have absolutely no neighbors around here?” Parker asked.

“Definitely,” Claire answered. “Kip’s land is the furthest from any neighbors at all though. That’s why he always hosts the throw downs.”

“How many of those has he had in the month you’ve been here?” Eliot asked curiously. She seemed to know an awful lot about them.

“He has one or two a week,” she answered with a shrug. “They’re usually pretty good fun.”

Claire’s interpretation of ‘pretty good fun’ was an understatement, Eliot could tell. Claire had a wild streak, he’d known it the minute he met her. She defied everyone in Moreau’s crew that should have scared her, and he’d seen her down far too many shots than a person her size should physically be able to. And that was when she was much too thin, in his opinion. He remembered wondering then how a girl of Nineteen had built up such an impressive alcohol tolerance. She’d never explained but he had a feeling Claire’s teenage years were no where near as innocent as his had been. Though, his weren’t as innocent as they should have been either, he admitted.

“Pretty good fun as in that night I snuck you out of that hotel in Sydney and you proceeded to dance on the bar or pretty good fun like that night in Ibiza where you some how forgot your shirt in the bathroom?” Eliot asked her with a grin and pointed look.

She laughed without shame and gave him a thoughtful look. “More like Sydney than Ibiza but both were enjoyable. Unfortunately, throw downs don’t normally involve Crown or else they might lean more toward Ibiza. I can’t promise I won’t eventually lose my shirt, though,” she said as she tossed a wink at him.

He chuckled and shook his head. God, she was a mess.

“So, who’s in?” She asked the group.

“Sorry, not me. All I want is a glass of wine and to get these heels off of my feet,” Sophie said with an apologetic smile. All eyes then turned to Nate.

“Oh, um I would, but I don’t want to,” he said quickly and briskly.

“Fair enough,” Claire said as she gave him an amused look and then turned to Parker and Hardison. “What about you two?”

“I’m in,” Parker said immediately. “Lots of people, not paying attention to me, with lots of pockets. Should be fun.”

“If she’s in then I’m in,” Hardison agreed.

“Great,” Claire said with a nod. “You guys can ride with us.”

“How? The cab of your truck would fit three people at most,” Hardison said in confusion.

“You can ride in the back,” Claire said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and breezed past him.

“The back? You mean the truck bed?” Hardison asked as he trailed behind her. “Oh _hell_ no.”

This was going to be interesting, Eliot thought. Hardison at a party out in the _true_ country was a sight Eliot never thought he’d see. Should he take pictures for black mail?

 _Probably_ , he thought with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is a Miranda Lamber song called "House That Built Me". I do not own it. I did change the lyrics a bit to reflect more of Claire's story. But other than that you can thank Ms. Lambert for that gem.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Small Town Throw Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire takes the crew to a Small Town Throw Down, part one. ;)

Chapter Fourteen

 

Despite his protests, Hardison had been forced to sit in the back. It was Claire’s truck, so she wasn’t going to sit in the back, and she would only let Eliot drive (other than herself of course) which left Parker and there was no way Hardison was going to ask her to sit in the back. His Nana raised him right.

“Can you pull up right next to Kip’s truck?” Claire asked as she directed Eliot to actually drive into the pasture. “We’re gonna drop the tail gate and let him use the bed for part of the stage.”

“A stage _and_ alcohol?” Eliot asked with a teasing grin. “Are we sure this is a good idea for you?”

She laughed and shoved him playfully. “Shut up.”

Eliot parked the truck and they all piled out. Another truck pulled up next to them as he dropped the tail gate and Claire ran to meet the driver.

“Well, I do declare if it isn’t Vick Williams. I’m surprised you decided to grace us with your presence,” Claire said teasingly as she hugged the much taller man. He was taller and broader than Eliot and looked as though he might be able to take Eliot in a fight.

“I had no choice. Kip wants to play and I’m the one with the sound system,” Vick said with a good natured laugh. “Thanks for letting us borrow your truck, Lanier.”

“Not a problem,” she answered. “Come on, let me introduce you to some people.”

“Who’s that guy?” Hardison asked Eliot with a quirked brow. “He’s…jacked.”

“Guys, this is Vick. He’s a friend of Kip’s from Nashville,” Claire said before she motioned to the other three people. “Vick, this is Hardison, Parker, and—“

“The husband,” Vick interrupted her as he reached out and shook Eliot’s hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you, Roy. Good to meet you.”

“You have?” Eliot asked as he returned the handshake. “What have you heard?” He wasn’t aware Claire made a habit of talking about him to other people.

“She likes to brag, your wife,” Vick said with a shrug. “I run a gym back in Nashville and I tried to teach her some self defense moves but to my surprise she didn’t need ‘em. She said you taught her everything she knows.”

“The word ‘everything’ makes it sound like I know more than I do,” Claire said with a chuckle. “I know just enough.”

“She’s a good student,” Eliot said with a smirk as he gave Claire a proud glance. “She picks it up fast.”

“You know, it’s funny, you’re not built like a baseball player,” Vick said observantly. “You’re built like a fighter. You ever been involved in MMA? You look familiar to me.”

Hardison, Eliot, and Parker exchanged a look. All three were thinking of the same job, he knew.

“Nah, nothing serious. Maybe an amateur league or two a while back,” Eliot offered dismissively, hoping this conversation wouldn’t go any further.

“Ah, yeah, I traveled through a few of those too once in a while. Probably saw you some place and didn’t even know it,” Vick said with a nod.

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Eliot said with a light forced chuckle.

Claire rejoined him and leaned close to him whisper. “That’s not it, is it?”

“Not even close.”

She laughed. “You guys do get around, don’t you?”

“You have no idea.”

“You seen Kip yet?” Vick asked.

“Not yet,” Claire answered. “We just got here.”

“If you see him, let him know I’m gonna go ahead and get the sound and the drum kit set up,” Vick said as he went back to his truck.

“Will do!” Claire shouted as another car came into view. “Oh!” She turned back to Vick excitedly. “Kip didn’t tell me _she_ was coming!” Vick grinned broadly and nodded.

“I made sure of it,” Vick said with a chuckle. “That boy will make a move yet.”

“We will see to it, right?” Claire asked Vick with a grin.

“Teamwork makes the dream work, Lanier,” Vick replied with a wink.

“Who are you talking about?” Eliot asked.

“Kip’s got this girl in Nashville that he’s been trying to get up the nerve to ask out for months now. But he’s still kinda shaky thanks to the ex-wife. Who, no matter what Kip thinks, mistreated him as much as he thinks he mistreated her,” Claire told him. There was obvious disdain for the ex-wife in her tone. “Anyway, she came down a couple of weeks ago for one of the throw downs and she’s absolutely the sweetest. Super talented too. And Kip is so smitten. It’s adorable. I told Vick that we needed to force Kip’s hand.”

“And that’s her car?” Eliot asked.

“Sure is,” Claire said excitedly. “Kip says she’s new to the Nashville scene. Her brother owns a studio in Memphis, I think, so that’s where she’s been until the last six months or so.”

A sinking feeling started to gather in Eliot’s gut. No way, he was that unlucky. It couldn’t be. The car stopped several feet away from them and Claire waved as the driver’s side door opened. A hand waved back and then Claire took off to meet the driver.

“Kaye Lynn!” She called excited as she reached the car. “Girl, no one told me you were coming!”

Eliot froze. Well, shit.

Hardison and Parker chuckled from their spots next to him and gave him knowing looks.

“Kaye Lynn as in…Memphis Kaye Lynn?” Parker asked him knowingly.

“Damn, bruh, talk about a small world,” Hardison said with a smirk. “Bet you never thought the ex and the Mrs. Would meet face to face, huh?”

“Shup up, Hardison,” Eliot muttered as he reluctantly trudged forward.

He was not looking forward to this at all. The closer he got the more recognition he saw on Kaye Lynn’s face. He stopped beside of Claire and watched as Claire opened her mouth to introduce him before Kaye Lynn interrupted.

“Eliot?” She asked in disbelief.

Claire’s eyes widened and her lips parted slightly before she spoke. “I’m sorry, you two know each other?”

“Uh, yeah,” Kaye Lynn said with a pleasantly surprised smile. She motioned to Hardison and Parker who were now standing behind Eliot. “They did a favor for me and my brother a while back.”

“Did they?” Claire asked with a thin smile. There was no emotion that he could read in Claire’s eyes and her smile was neutral enough that he couldn’t tell if it was genuine.

“Yeah, you remember me telling you about Mitchell Kirkland?” Kaye Lynn asked her.

“The has been that tried to steal your songs?” Claire asked. Realization dawned on her face and her thin smile grew. “Let me guess, they got them back for you?”

“And then some,” Kaye Lynn told her.

Claire then gave Kaye Lynn another once over. This time seeing her through someone else’s eyes. Feisty, country crooning, damsel in distress. Her eyes then flicked to Eliot, who actually looked nervous, and she put two and two together. Kaye Lynn _was_ Eliot’s type. And he did say there was a woman that reminded him of Claire. He’d told her that much.

“I think I understand,” Claire said with a smirk.

“So,” Kaye Lynn said as she motioned between Eliot and Claire. “You two are a, uh, thing?”

“Something like that,” Claire said with a chuckle. Why did she look so calm? Eliot was worried. She was taking this far too well. “Eliot and I have known each other for a very long time.”

Kaye Lynn nodded. “I always got the feeling that he was thinking of someone else when he was looking at me. Now, I get it,” Kaye Lynn said thoughtfully. “But I thought you said your husband’s name was Roy?”

“Alias,” Claire told her as if that one word explanation would be enough.

To his surprise, Kaye Lynn accepted it with a slow nod. “Right, so I guess I should call him Roy for the rest of the night then?”

“Around anyone besides, Kip, yeah,” Eliot answered. It was the first time he’d dared to speak since he walked over. Hardison and Parker were watching the exchange between Claire and Kaye Lynn with surprised yet eager expressions. He had to admit he was thrown off too. They were being so…reasonable.

“I am loving this outfit,” Claire said as she looped her arm through Kaye Lynn’s and led her back to where Vick was setting up the equipment.

“Oh, thanks! It’s new. I got a publishing deal since I was here last,” she said proudly. “Thought I’d celebrate with some new boots and an outfit or two.”

“I can’t believe my eyes,” Hardison said with a grin. “Are they actually…friends?”

“Oh man, I thought there was gonna be a catfight,” Parker said with a disappointed expression. “I love those.”

Eliot should have been relieved, but he wasn’t.

“It’s not just me, right?” Eliot asked them. “This is weird, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely.”

“It defies all laws of nature.”

In the distance Eliot saw Kip walking across the pasture and he hurriedly caught up with Claire and Kaye Lynn.

“Listen, ladies,” Eliot said with his most charming smile. “Can we maybe not mention to Kip the history here?”

“You mean that the two of you slept together?” Claire asked Eliot pointedly.

“Why would Kip care?” Kaye Lynn asked. “I mean if Claire’s fine with it and I’m fine with it, why wouldn’t Kip be?”

“Yes, Eliot,” Claire said with a teasing smirk as she feigned ignorance. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

“I—It—well—I just thought most people might think that this situation would be a bit awkward, you know and I just think it’s not something that should be aired out in public,” Eliot said as she struggled to come up with an answer.

“And also,” Parker said as she joined them. “Because Kip has a massive crush on Kaye Lynn. I heard Claire say that to Eliot earlier.”

Eliot winced and huffed. “Yes, thank you, Parker.”

“He does?” Kaye Lynn asked. “Really? I—I thought about asking him for coffee once but then I didn’t know if he was ready for that. His ex really did a number on him, I think.”

“She did,” Claire confirmed. “She was a real bitch. Not that I ever met her, but I can tell. I know her type. And yes, Kip does like you. He’s too nervous to ask you out. It’s actually adorable. But you have to do us all a favor and pretend you don’t know. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

“Got it,” Kaye Lynn said with a nod. “I didn’t hear that and I won’t discuss the fact that I had sex with Eliot.” Kaye Lynn smirked at him. Claire gave Eliot a mischievous glance as well.

“Probably a good idea,” Claire offered with a very serious nod. “We wouldn’t want people to think Eliot was a man whore or anything.”

They were messing with him. They were absolutely torturing him on purpose.

“Definitely not,” Kaye Lynn agreed. “We absolutely cannot ruin his reputation.”

“Not to mention the gossip that would come from it,” Claire told her. “Can you imagine what the little old biddies at the local beauty parlor would think? It’d be a full blown scandal.”

“Okay,” Eliot said as he rolled his eyes and sighed. “I get it, you can stop now.”

“Oh, darlin’,” Claire said as she imitated his accent. “We’re just looking out for you.”

“No, you’re both evil, that’s what it is,” Eliot said as the panic in his chest faded. Once it was gone he was able to grin at them knowingly. “It’s really not funny.”

“Oh no,” Kaye Lynn said with a loud laugh. “It totally is.”

“What did you think we were going to do, Eliot?” Claire asked him with a chuckle. “Rip each other’s hair out over you?”

“Oh, were we supposed to do that?” Kaye Lynn asked jokingly. “Cause I’ll take you on right now if you want.”

“You think you could, huh?” Claire asked with a smirk.

“Please, I’m a scrapper what I lack in skill I make up with in endurance,” Kaye Lynn told her.

“Little Girl, I got like ten pounds on you, I could throw you real easy,” Claire said with a quirked eyebrow.

“You could try,” Kaye Lynn said with a challenging grin.

“Alright,” Eliot said with a laugh. “This is about a second from actually happening and, at the risk of disappointing Parker, should we change the topic?” These girls would get into a fight just for the bragging rights. He knew them both.

As luck would have it, Kip made it to them at just that moment.

“I see you’ve all met, Kaye Lynn,” Kip said as he joined them. “Thanks for coming, Kaye,” Kip said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

“Wouldn’t have missed it. It’s been a real rare treat so far,” Kaye Lynn said as she exchanged an amused look with Claire. “As it turns out, _Roy_ , here, is real fun to tease.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” Kip agreed with a grin. “He takes himself a bit too seriously. Those are always the best ones to mess with.”

Claire laughed loudly and nodded her agreement. “Oh god, you have no idea how exactly right you are.”

“Vick almost got the sound system set up?” Kip asked Claire curiously.

“Yeah, I think so,” she answered. “We’ll just go check on him for you.” Claire nudged Kaye Lynn toward Kip and then led Eliot and the others away. As they walked away she wrapped her arms around Eliot and then placed a kiss to his jawline. “You’re adorable when you’re nervous and panicked. You know that, don’t you?”

“Are we allowed to call Eliot adorable?” Hardison asked from behind them.

Eliot turned to glare at him as he wrapped his arms around Claire in return. “She is, _you’re not_.”

“What about me?” Parker asked.

“You either.”

“Good to know,” Parker said with a nod.


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Small Town Throw Down - Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second half of the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song I use in this chapter belongs to Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood. It just screamed Kaye and Claire.

Cars had steadily come in for the last twenty minutes and Vick directed each one to the furthest corner of the pasture. Kip, it seemed, was busy with Kaye Lynn. No one was sure what they were up to but they’d been gone a while. A guy and a girl Eliot didn’t know brought a keg and set it on an old tractor tire that was lying around.

“There’s more in the truck when we run out,” The girl said before she made a beeline to Claire. “Girl, I heard you singing on that main stage today! I told you, you needed to take that voice a’yours outside of these parties!”

Claire rolled her eyes good naturedly and hugged her. “Cheyenne, I can honestly say, that’s not something that appeals to me. I like music best when it’s just for me and my friends.”

“Oh,” Cheyenne said as she released Claire and gave Eliot a once over. “Is this the hubby?”

Cheyenne was blonde and thin as a rail. She wore neatly pressed bright coral capris and a flowing pale yellow blouse. The way she had her sunglasses carefully perched on the top of her head and the natural look to her make up gave Eliot the impression that she was one of those classic southern debutantes.

“My, aren’t you a looker,” Cheyenne said as she stretched out a delicate hand. “Rough around the edges and all. Just our girl’s type.”

He could tell she meant no offense but he saw Claire wince anyway.

“You know Claire and I were best friends in elementary school,” Cheyenne said as she carefully pushed her long hair back over her shoulder. “We did pageants together. My mama never quite understood how I could be friends with my rival. But we never once saw it that way. Did we, hon?” She asked as she turned to face Claire.

“It helped that I didn’t really give a shit about winning,” Claire said with a smirk.

“Me neither,” Cheyenne admitted. “But we southern girls do as our mamas tell us, _most_ of the time.”

“Yeah, I guess we do,” Claire said as she gave the woman an amused smile. Cheyenne and Claire were night and day now. Eliot wondered if they’d always been that way. “Where’s Matt, Chey?”

“My betrothed is moving the car, “ she answered.

Betrothed? Who talks like that? Eliot noted the pearls around Cheyenne’s neck and the sorority emblem on her pendent necklace and then shared a knowing look with Claire. Nevermind, now he understood. She was a belle. A true old fashioned Southern Belle.

“Are you gonna be any fun this time?” Claire asked her teasingly.

“I’m fun! I just have fun in a ladylike fashion,” Cheyenne protested.

“Being a lady is overrated,” Claire said dismissively. “You don’t make history if you don’t raise a little bit a’hell every now and then.”

Eliot smirked at Claire and took in her barely there denim skirt, scuffed up boots, and sleeveless white button up shirt that was tied just above her waist. No one would mistake her for a lady. He knew that much.

“You raise hell at every party, hon,” Cheyenne said with a shake of her head. “I don’t know how _you_ define ‘every now and then’ but that’s not how everyone else defines it.”

A man who seemed to perfectly suit Cheyenne in his khakis, polo, and boat shoes joined Cheyenne and briefly hugged Claire. Cheyenne reached up and straightened his ball cap, which he’d been wearing backwards, and then motioned to Eliot.

“Matt, this is Claire’s husband. Roy, was it?” She asked. He nodded and she continued without waiting for him to speak. “Roy, this is my fiancé, Matt. He’s a doctor.”

Matt gave Cheyenne a bemused look before shaking Eliot’s hand. “Do you think there will ever come a day where she doesn’t mention that I’m a doctor?”

Eliot laughed and shook his head. “Probably not.” Eliot motioned to the black and gold ball cap on Matt’s head with a familiar logo on it. “You a Wake Forest fan?”

“Alumni actually,” he answered. “But a fan too.”

Eliot was about to bring up the coming football season when a loud chugging could be heard behind them. Matt turned with a grin and laughed. “Now the party can really begin.”

Hardison’s brow furrowed as he and Parker rejoined Eliot and Claire. “Is that a tractor?” He asked.

“Yep,” Claire said with a smirk. “That would be Johnny. He doesn’t have a car so he usually borrows his mama’s but when it’s unavailable…” Claire let her sentence fade and motioned to the tractor coming to a stop on the far end of the pasture.

“So his other ride is a tractor?” Hardison asked in shock. “Is that even legal?”

“He’s also less likely to get searched for Moonshine when he drives it,” Matt added in a low murmur to only Eliot.

Eliot laughed and nodded. “You know, earlier today I thought this was my kind of place. But now I know it for sure.”

“Do you think he’d let me drive it?” Parker asked as her eyes sparkled eagerly.

“No,” Hardison and Eliot said simultaneously in firm tones.

“Okay, okay,” Parker said as she held up her hands in surrender. But something in her eyes told them this wasn’t over.

“Gangs all here,” Kip announced as he and Kaye Lynn suddenly reappeared. They both looked disheveled and giddy. It would have given them away if the stain of Kaye Lynn’s lip gloss hadn’t.

“Plus about forty people none of us really know,” Vick added with a chuckle.

“Yeah, well, my parties are famous,” Kip said with a proud grin. “What can you do?”

“Is that truck painted in…camouflage?” Hardison asked in disbelief. “Is there a point to that?”

“Let me guess,” Matt said as he pointed to Hardison with a knowing grin. “It’s your first small town throw down?”

Hardison nodded warily at the grin on Matt’s face.

“Oh, this is gonna be good,” Matt said with a laugh. “We _love_ newbies.”

Claire leaned toward Hardison to whisper. “I don’t care how much alcohol you have, do not pass out. You’ll wake up with Sharpie all over your face. Trust me.”

“What?” Hardison asked.

“That was a one time tip out of the kindness of my heart, Nerd boy,” Claire stated with a smirk. “I’m not repeating it.”

* * *

 

Kip, Vick, Matt, and Johnny took the “stage”, which was really just four trucks parked side by side with their tailgates down and played a few songs to get the party started. All songs were covers of top country radio hits. The beer was flowing and Eliot saw several games of Corn Hole pop up as the night began. There was a bon fire for s’mores and hot dogs, and much to his disbelief Kip had set up a mud pit in one corner of the pasture. People were already slipping and sliding through it. 

He’d been to a few of these in Oklahoma but none of them were quite like this. There was corn liquor being discretely passed around. There wasn’t as much of it as the beer so Kip was keeping it quiet and saving it for his friends. In the country, corn liquor was “the good stuff.”

Cheyenne took a seat on a cooler full of bottled water that she’d brought and watched the party with a resigned expression. Kaye Lynn was on her second beer and Eliot saw Cheyenne hand her a bottle of water.

“You need to stay hydrated, hon,” she’d shouted to be heard over the music.

“God, Chey, unclench, will you? She’s fine!” Claire shouted back with a laugh as she pulled Kaye Lynn away.

Claire was still nursing her first beer as she made her way to Eliot. She’d left Kaye Lynn at the edge of the stage to admire Kip as he played guitar and then found him.

“Taking it slow, I see?” He asked her with a grin.

“We’ll be here for a while,” she told him with a chuckle. “No need to rush. You had anything yet?”

“Nah, not yet. Like you said. No need to rush,” Eliot responded as he put an arm around her waist. “So, Kip does this once or twice a week?”

She nodded. “No night clubs out here. These guys have to blow off steam somehow.”

On the stage, Kip was pulling Kaye Lynn onto the truck bed with him as the current song ended. She found the microphone and locked eyes with Claire.

“I think it’s our turn to show these boys how it’s really done,” Kaye Lynn said with a smirk. “What do y’say, Lanier?”

Claire laughed and nodded. She winked at Eliot as she left him to head to the stage. Vick lifted her up effortlessly onto the truck bed with him. She hopped over onto the truck bed Kaye Lynn was occupying and took the other microphone.

“I say _hell yeah_ ,” Claire yelled as she raised her red solo cup over her head.

Eliot laughed. This should be interesting.

“So, Claire and I wrote a little tune last time I was here,” Kaye Lynn announced. “I think tonight’s as good a night as any to debut it. How about you?”

“Oh, y’all,” Claire said with a nod and a laugh. “Something bad’s about to happen.”

Kaye Lynn laughed with her as Kip and the guys began to play the tune. Claire looked surprised but Kaye Lynn just winked at her. Apparently Kaye Lynn and boys had been practicing. Claire and Kaye Lynn stomped and clapped out a rhythm during the intro and pretty soon the party crowed had joined in. Eliot folded his arms across his chest and smirked, just enjoying the show.

_“Stand on the bar, stomp your feet, get clapping  
Got a real good feeling something bad about to happen_

_Oh oh oh_  
_Oh oh oh_  
_Oh oh oh_  
_Oh oh oh.”_

Their harmonies were tight. They’re voices complimented each other very well. Further proof to Eliot that he’d seen a lot of Claire in Kaye Lynn and that was a large part of the attraction. Kaye Lynn began to sing first. The song was fast past with a driving beat. It was definitely a party song.

 _“Pulled up to the church but I got so nervous_  
_Had to back it on up, couldn’t make it to the service_  
_Grabbed all the cash underneath my mattress_  
_Got a real good feelin’ something bad about to happen.”_

In between each verse were harmonized “oh”s that added a dangerous sound to the song that was really hard to describe without being there to hear it. Claire’s verse was next.

 _“_ _Ran into a girl in a pretty white dress_  
_Rolled down a window, where you heading to next?_  
_Said I’m heading to the bar with my money out of the mattress_  
_Got a real good feeling something bad about to happen.”_

Claire and Kaye Lynn really did get along well. He could see it in their body language and the amused looks they constantly exchanged. He wasn’t sure that was a good thing for either of them. They were both sensible, he knew, but they both had a tendency to cause trouble. Kaye Lynn, however, seemed to do so less frequently.

The chorus and their amazing harmonies came around again.

 _“_ _Stand on the box, stomp your feet, start clapping_  
_I got a real good feeling something bad about to happen_  
_Drinks keep coming, throw my head back laughing_  
_Wake up in the morning' don't know what happened_  
_Whoa, something bad_  
_Whoa, something bad.”_

He glanced around as the second verse continued and smirked. The crowd was eating it up. They were cheering and hollering and stomping right along with the song. It was a very catchy tune and he wondered if Kaye Lynn would shop it around when she got back to Nashville.

The song ended with an a cappella refrain of the chorus and the small crowd of about fifty people cheered impossibly loud. Kaye Lynn and Claire laughed together as they were helped off the truck beds and let the boys take back the stage. Kaye Lynn was clearly tipsy, but Claire…Claire was just having fun. This was a side of Claire that Eliot hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was nice to have her back.

Kaye Lynn waved goodbye and headed toward where Cheyenne was sitting before they reached Eliot. Claire finished off her beer in one gulp and then grabbed his hand to pull him through the crowd. He could practically feel the adrenaline and excitement coursing through her.

“Come on, cowboy,” she said as she laced her fingers through his. “I know where Kip hid the corn liquor.”

* * *

 

They’d found the jug of corn liquor and a solo cup for Eliot and then went looking for a place to hide. They’d found it in an old run down pick up that hadn’t been touched in probably a decade or two at least. They climbed in the cab and had already finished off one cup each. Claire was bubbly and laughing and almost reminded him of that nineteen year old version of her that had stumbled into Moreau’s crew. 

“And then,” Claire said as she continued a rare story about her mother. “My mother handed me her earrings, these huge gaudy things, just before she tackled Chey’s mother to the ground.” She laughed loudly and shook her head. “Apparently, Chey’s mother was several years ahead of my mama in school and was clued in to who she was. She didn’t take kindly to her pure and innocent daughter hanging out with the bastard child of a teen mother. Now, _thinking it_ was fine, hell, everyone in this town thought that, but Chey’s mama’s mistake was saying it loud enough for my mama to hear,” Claire took another sip form her cup and giggled. “The two of them fighting was a sight to see. My mama’s press on nails and red heels shining through in brief flashes and Chey’s mama’s perfectly quaffed blonde hair waving like a flag in the wind. Definitely one of the more scandalous things this town has seen go down in public.” She barely suppressed a laugh as she continued. “It made the morning paper.”

Eliot laughed with her and pulled her into his lap in the cramped beat up truck cab. “Front page?”

She nodded with a grin. “But down in the bottom corner so as not to seem obvious that this town is full of gossips and sinners. That’s what Grandma said about it anyway.”

“So that’s why you and Cheyenne’s moms expected you to hate each other?” Eliot asked.

“They were rivals, so we had to be too,” Claire told him. “I think being friends with Chey was one of my first real acts of rebellion. My mama hated it when I’d invite Chey over. Speaking of rivals,” Claire said as she gave him an amused but concerned glance. “You really okay with me and Kaye being friends?”

“If you’re okay with it then I’m okay with it,” he said honestly. “I told you she reminded me of you. I should have known you two would hit it off if you ever met. I just never really thought—“

“You never thought we’d actually meet,” Claire finished for him with a chuckle. “I get what you saw in her. I really do. She’s beautiful, no doubt. Very talented. Feisty as fire. Plus with Kirkland holding her music she probably had the heir of a damsel in distress too. A very tempting combination. I’ve conned a few Richie Riches with nothing more than that myself.”

“Had you been around, I probably wouldn’t have looked at her twice,” Eliot admitted.

She smirked and leaned toward him with a wink. “Once maybe, but never twice.”

He laughed. “Yeah, maybe once.”

“Uh huh,” she said with a laugh.

He was really loving hearing her laugh so loudly and frequently tonight. Something about it was making him feel like the teenager he knew he wasn’t anymore. Either that or it was the liquor, but he’d had corn liquor before and it never made him feel like this.

She downed the rest of her cup just as she had with the beer earlier, in one long quick gulp. She didn’t wince as the alcohol burned it’s way down and he was once again impressed and concerned by her alcohol tolerance.

He took another sip of his and then set it aside. “We should probably go put the jug back so the others can have some.”

“Okay,” she said. But she didn’t move. She just grinned at him from where she was perched on his lap. “We could do that. Or…”

“Yeah?” he asked with a quirked brow and a smirk.

“Well, remember how I lost my shirt in Ibiza?” She asked with a sultry smile.

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

She leaned in and pressed her upper body flush against his before trailing a few kisses along his jaw. She stopped and met his hazy gaze with a heated one of her own. “This time maybe you could _help me_ lose it.” She winked before she covered his lips with hers and kissed him deeply. His hands immediately reached for the buttons on her shirt. Oh, he was definitely willing to help her with that.

* * *

 

Eventually they put the jug back where they found it, though it was a bit emptier than it should have been, and made their way to the party again. Claire hadn’t bothered buttoning her shirt back up. She’d simply tied it up higher, just below her breasts, and went with it. Claire wasn’t modest by any definition of the word and Eliot actually kind of liked the way other men stared at her. They wanted her, sure. But he was the one _she_ wanted. It did more for his ego than he wanted to admit. 

When they finally found Parker and Hardison again, Parker was pouting because it was getting late and she still hadn’t had a chance to drive the tractor. Claire smirked and pulled her aside. She whispered something in Parker’s ear and then pointed at Johnny in the crowd. The band was currently on a break and Johnny was sitting by the bonfire making a s’more. Parker gave Claire a hesitant look but Claire winked in return and gave her a thumbs up.

“Trust me,” she said as she pushed Parker in Johnny’s direction.

“What did you do?” Eliot asked as Claire rejoined him.

She laughed with a bright twinkle in her eye and then shrugged. “I guess you’ll just have to watch and see.”

Parker sat down next to Johnny and smiled at him. It was actually a normal smile and not a giddy one that typically preceded something crazy. She toasted a marshmallow while he ate his s’more and then proceeded to seductively eat that marshmallow, all the way down to licking the sticky residue off of her fingers. Johnny hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her.

Hardison glared at the pair and then turned that glare on Claire. “Did you teach her to do that?”

Claire shrugged and smirked. “Maybe.”

“This is not cool, Arm Candy. It is _not_ cool,” Hardison said as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched with a pout similar to the one Parker wore earlier.

“Jealous?” She asked teasingly.

“What? Me? Nah, no. I don’t care.” His voice was much too high and he’d shifted his weight far too often while talking.

“Wow, you’d think for someone who dabbles in grifting you’d be a better liar,” Claire said with a cool grin as she looped her arm through Eliot’s.

They watched as Parker turned toward Johnny and asked about the tractor. He answered and then a few seconds later they were both standing and Johnny was leading her in the direction of his ride to the party.

“She shoots,” Claire said with a chuckle.

“And she scores,” Eliot finished for her with a smirk in Hardison’s direction.

“She can score all she wants but _he_ better not score nothing,” Hardison muttered as he followed after them.

“Well that was fun,” Claire said with a laugh. “What should we do next?”

Eliot chuckled at her before he kissed the top of her head. “Whatever you want, darlin’. Whatever you want.”

* * *

 

The party was starting to wind down. The band had stopped playing a while ago, the only music was the local country station playing softly over the sound system. Matt had passed out in the tractor tire that had once held the keg. The minute Claire saw him she smirked and asked Vick for the sharpie he’d been using to write name’s on everyone’s cups.

 Vick laughed and shook his head before handing it over to her. The cartoon she scribbled on his forehead was, for lack of a better word, pornographic and Eliot didn’t think he’d laughed that hard in a very long time.

“Revenge is a bitch, Matty,” Claire said as she handed Vick back his sharpie. “You should have seen what he drew on me the first time I came to one of these,” she told Eliot. “Ada made me hide from the kids until I got it off.”

“It was classic,” Vick told him. “But this, this is masterful.” He held a hand toward Claire and she victoriously high fived him. “Though, Cheyenne is going to kill you.”

“Let her try,” Claire said with a shrug and a giggle. “I take after my mama in more ways than I’d like so I think I can take her.”

Eliot shook his head at her in amusement. Yeah, this was the Claire he’d first met. The one that cursed like a sailor when anyone even remotely pissed her off, regularly spit in Moreau’s drinks when he wasn’t looking, and put make up on Chapman when she caught him sleeping on the job. This was the Claire that Moreau had tried to kill. Eliot was grateful to see her again. Even if she was a bit of brat sometimes.


End file.
